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Press Release by Kayayei Youth Association Ghana on the Divided front of Northern Politicians and the comments of Hon. Alban Bagbin, at Old Fadama, Accra on the 17th of November 2013. Thank you very much members of the media for accepting our invitation to this all important press conference. We have invited you here today to discuss issues concerning us and our regions that is Northern Ghana (Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions). Northern Ghana is one of the poorest parts of the entire country and development over there is nothing to talk about. Government after government has not seen the need to help the people of the area. Northern politicians have let us down. They are those who are supposed to ensure that our brothers and sisters get jobs and also live meaningful lives. We have put our trust and confidence in our leaders, the educated ones, opinion leaders and politicians. We are sad to say that all our hopes in this people have been dashed, our northern brothers do not care, they are thinking about themselves, their wives, girlfriends and crones. Added to this our disappointment, the Northern politicians have turned guns on each other for no apparent reason but for their selfish interest but the larger interest of the people of the north. Some of them have turned themselves into traitors and undermining their colleagues. We are therefore not happy that our senior brother, Hon. Alban Bagbin, who is supposed to lead this northern crusade for development, has rather started attacking his own younger brother, President John Dramani Mahama. Even if Mr Bagbin has issues with the president what he is doing now is not the way forward. Members of the Press, we want to use Mr Bagbin�s action to send a clear notice to all Northern policiticians who think like him that we will not sit down to allow what happened to Dr Hilla Limann to happen to President Mahama. To undermine your brother for whatever reason is unacceptable to us. We the Kayayei Youth Association are watching and will show our anger at the appropriate time if our politicians do not stop plotting against each other. We are sick and tired of senior brothers politicians allowing themselves to be used by their friends to pull down their own people. Ladies and gentlemen, is it not embarrassing to hear northerners attacking the President? What crime has he committed? Or some people think they are better than him? If the rumour that this politicians are planning with some NDC members to stage a coup and topple President Mahama is correct, then they must be ashamed of themselves. How will their actions, if true, benefit us as northerners? Can�t we think about the suffering of our brothers and sisters? We the Kayayei Youth Association are surprised at this situation. We are calling on Mr Alban Bagbin and the rest of other northerners that the whole world is watching them. The bitterness in them will not help in the development of our regions. It will not bring jobs and peace to us. A divided house cannot stand. We are therefore calling on all our leaders to come together to rather think about how they can help to develop the regions. If they truly want to see the north develop, we want to see them rallying behind President Mahama, or else we will accuse them of selfishness and traitor who again want to do to John Mahama what they did to Dr Limann, and also betraying northerners. Northerners want development and peace, northerners want education, roads, water and jobs so that we will not continue to come to the south to do �Kayayie�. We also deserve to live a better life. We want to take this opportunity to also appeal to the government to look at the plight of the Kayayie and help them learn skills and support them to resettle back home in the north. Government should provide a decent accommodation for them and also help them start business ventures. We are appealing to His Excellency John Dramani Mahama to extend the LESDEP and MASLOC programmes to the youth at Agbogbloshie. We have hope in the President and believe he will listen to us. We, the Concerned Northern Development Group, want to tell President Mahama to remain focus and also bring development to our people. We know God chose him and everybody must wait for God�s appointed time but not rush to destroy to achieve an aim. This is time northerners must come together to help President Mahama but not to destroy him. We as northerners, we are lucky to have a president at this time, we should not create enemies for him. We will not allow anybody to stand in the way of the effort at bringing development and peace to our regions. We thank you for coming. We now invite questions. Signed. Mohammed Salifu (President) Tel: 0246709054 Prince Wumbei Salifu (P.R.O. Kayayei Youth Association) Tel: 0244663369