The Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Curtis Perry Kwabla Okudzeto, has described as “dangerous, unacceptable and irresponsible” the trend of ‘hate-for-vote’ agenda being religiously pursued by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The ethnocentric agenda, led by the flagbearer of the party, John Dramani Mahama, and the General Secretary, Johnson Asideu Nketia, according to Mr Okudzeto, is “callous and unacceptable”.
Breaking his silence on the ongoing voters’ registration exercise, and the supposed attacks on Ewes, Mr Okudzeto wondered why the NDC always employs the ‘hate-for-vote’ agenda in every election cycle.
“Once again, it is election year and you see and hear elements in the opposition NDC run amok, accusing the President and his party of discrimination against MY TRIBE, and that an illegality amounts to tribal bigotry. [They do so]As if the NDC is the official party for people from the Volta Region. Why am I not NDC?” he questioned.
“Further, one can follow a trend led by the flagbearer of the NDC, former President John Mahama, and the General Secretary, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, doing pure political mischief and hoping to gain by swaying a tribe to solidarise and register to vote for them.
“Even when it is pure political propaganda, some people unfortunately seem to be buying into this and the media also giving this agenda mileage. How does the General Secretary of the largest opposition party break the law by assembling people in open trucks without observing COVID-19 protocols and claim they are entitled to register and must be allowed to register. Is it not against the law to bus people to register in the first place?” he added.
Not Voter Region
Mr Okudzeto stated that the “Volta Region cannot be a Voter Region for a party to lay claim to when they need votes”, adding “people in a democracy can decide where they want to belong and that is the beauty of democracy.”
“But this evil agenda must stop. I am not writing this because I am an appointee in the Akufo-Addo administration; I am writing this because I am appalled at how low some political leaders are willing to go just to win an election and in this case to an office they occupied just 4 years ago. So how desperate can this get,” he added.
Foreigners not Ewes
He wondered why, all of a sudden, every foreigner in Ghana, today, has become an automatic Ewe from Adidome, Atorkor or Tetekope.
“How does stopping Togolese nationals or any foreign national from getting on Ghana’s electoral roll become a tribal agenda?
“Are all Togolese even Ewes? There are several tribes in Togo. There are various tribes spread across Ghana’s frontiers in the north to Burkina Faso, to the west by La Cote D’ivoire and to the east by Togo. There are very porous borders and people walk in and out freely on a daily basis. But the fact that people walk in and out of a country freely does not make them citizens of a country. This therefore means that the rights of citizens can only be accorded to citizens who qualify according to our laws and hold the right documentation,” he stated.
“A foreign national is not entitled to be on our register; Ewes are not foreigners. If you’re a Togolese Ewe and you hold dual citizenship, it is not written on ones’ forehead; it is proven with documentation, just prove it.
“I am a proud Ewe man and I am Ghanaian, I don’t subscribe to an Ewe who is a Togolese to be given the right to vote in Ghana. I don’t have the right to vote in Togo or Benin and I am still Ewe. That should tell you being Ewe does not make you an ECOWAS citizen with an inalienable automatic right to register and vote in all countries that have the Ewe tribe. Likewise, an Ewe man in Aflao is not entitled to register to vote in Togo and Benin. We are two different countries. It cannot be the case that Lome and Aflao have become part of Ghana,” he added.