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The Minority Chief Whip in Parliament, Mr Dan Botwe, has reiterated the need for the rank and file of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to not settle personal scores on "the airwaves".

He noted that as a true lover of the party "one should be prepared to suffer abuse, insults and pain" in order to not tear the party apart.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Bolgatanga, Mr Botwe further said the peace overtures made by former President John Agyekum Kufuor and the party's flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, were a step in the right direction following recent internal wranglings within the party after an acid attack on the Upper East Regional Chairman, Adams Mahama, leading to his death. He has since been buried.

Making references to the popular story in the Bible about two women, one of whom had a dead baby and decided to exchange hers with her rival’s baby that was still alive, Mr Botwe noted that when the issue was brought before wise King Solomon he asked that the live child be divided into two, so that the two women could each have part of the living baby.

In the end, what happened was that the one whose baby was to be divided screamed and said the baby should stay alive so that at least she would feel comfortable.

According to Mr Botwe, the behaviour of the woman whose real baby it was that was supposed to be divided into two must be emulated by the rank and file of the party.

In effect, "What I am saying is that we must not allow the party to break apart just because we feel insulted or abused; what true lovers of the party would do is to be able to absorb the abuse or insults just for the sake of the party."

"Why do you want the party to suffer because you have been insulted?" Mr Botwe, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Okere in the Eastern Region, asked.

He further stressed that this was the time: "We need all and sundry to work harder for the victory that the late chairman cherished."

"In this time of crisis, we all need to come together and work harder to achieve our late brother's dream of NPP taking over power from the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC)," he further entreated.

Touching on the parliamentary primaries, Mr Botwe was of the view that after the final funeral rites of Mahama, issues about that could be dealt with, saying, "For now let us finish with the Adua and then we take it from there."