National Nasara Coordinator of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kamal-Deen Abdulai’s interview with Okay FM’s Kwame Nkrumah Tikesie last Monday seem to have given impetus to President John Dramani Mahama’s allegation that northerners only play second fiddle roles in the main opposition New Patriotic Party.
In the interview, Kamal-Deen was heard saying that “we have established a tradition in this party. That tradition is: if by the grace of God we elect a flagbearer who is a southerner, we look at the other divide from the north to also become the running mate. We have maintained this tradition from 1979 till now”.
When the host of Ade Akye Abia Morning Show asked whether it is not ripe for the party to elect a northerner as the flagbearer, he responded: “Kwame we are not there yet but what I will say is that once we have established a tradition and we are going forward, we respect that we have the northern part and the southern part. We have always maintained a ticket like that”.
Karmal Deen’s comment, according to NDC fanatics goes to confirm what the President said that in the NPP, northerners only play second fiddle roles.
According to President Mahama, the NPP has always taken northerners for granted and expressed pity for those who sided with the opposition party against his governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) - a comment which has drawn and continues to draw fire.
He therefore asked northerners to reject the NPP, describing it as a party that does not believe in the potential of Northerners.
Addressing residents of Lawra in the Upper West Region, President Mahama, himself a native of Bole in the Northern Region, lamented that “Sometimes I feel sad when I see some of our northern brothers running and also doing this. They will use you and dump you.”
“Let anything happen today and let our brother Bawumia say he is standing for president in NPP. They will never give it to him I can assure you.”
President Mahama recalled the death of former President John Evans Atta Mills which led to him assuming the mantle of the Presidency and later the flagbearership of the NDC going into the 2012 elections.
He said he had the full backing of the party executives of the NDC and no congress was needed as he opined that, “if it was another party, they would have insisted there should be a congress and in that congress I would have been contested and they would have given the leadership to somebody else.”
He declared, “I am proud to be a member of the NDC because I know it is a party that opens opportunities for all people of Ghana irrespective of your ethnic affiliation or you religious affiliation.”
<<Print>>