Fifi Kwetey, Nana Akomea
The General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, has come under fire from Nana Akomea, the Managing Director of Intercity STC Coaches Limited, for the bigotry and tribalistic remarks he made against Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
During a recent NDC campaign tour with ex-President John Dramani Mahama in the Northern Region, Fifi Kwetey derogatorily referred to Dr. Bawumia as a “disgrace to the North.”
Fiavi Kwetey warned northern voters not to vote for Dr. Bawumia because of his “disgraceful” behaviour.
However, Nana Akomea, a member of the Bawumia Campaign, mocked the NDC General Secretary for his overtly disrespectful remarks, urging him to look within his party for a politician who is a “disgrace to the North.”
“A northern NDC politician attested that Fifi Kwetey need only to go within his own party to find a politician who has been a ‘disgrace’ to the North,” he asserted.
“Dr. Bawumia’s behaviour that caused Mr. Fifi Kwetey to warn voters in the North against him, is not clear, but I remember another lament about “disgraceful” behaviour against another politician from the North.
“This particular lamentation came from another NDC politician, Mr. Martin Amidu,” he stated.
According to him, Amidu, who is a former vice presidential candidate of the NDC, unlike Fifi Kwetey, is actually a politician from the North.
“Mr. Amidu was also a Deputy Attorney General, a vice presidential candidate of the NDC, and Attorney General and Minister of Justice, and also the first occupant of the Office of Special Prosecutor.
“Mr. Amidu, in 2015 when John Mahama was president, had cause to describe [former] President Mahama as a “disgrace” to the North and to Northern politicians.
“Mr. Amidu believed that [ex-] President Mahama’s tolerance of corruption was so disgraceful that it would be difficult for the country to vote for another northerner to become president,” he wrote.
Quoting Mr. Amidu’s words, he said, “…because of his behaviour, for the next 20, 30 years this country will not vote for a Northern President and he is disgracing me as a Northerner; and I don’t like it.”
He argued that if Fifi Kwetey is looking for a politician who has been a “disgrace” to the North, he needs to just go within his own party, as testified by a Northern NDC politician.
YNF Condemnation
Meanwhile, the Young Northerners Forum (YNF) condemned the NDC Chief Scribe for attacking Vice President Bawumia, the ruling New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) flagbearer.
In a statement signed by the group’s President, John Nasara, the YNF stated that its members believe Fifi Kwetey’s words to be exceedingly disrespectful, inappropriate, and utterly uncalled for to be made to Northerners on their own soil.
He claimed that the group believes in the concept of unity, respect, and coexistence in the political environment, and hence opposes all forms of tribalism, prejudice, and belittlement based on an individual’s regional heritage.
The group called on ex-President Mahama, flagbearer of the NDC, to impress upon Fifi Kwetey to render an unconditional apology for his derogatory comments.
According to the group, the former President’s inability to get his General Secretary to apologise will be interpreted as a tacit endorsement of Fifi Kwetey’s unguarded statement.
By Ernest Kofi Adu