THE NEW Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Brong-Ahafo Region has asked President John Dramani Mahama to immediately sack the Regional Minister, Eric Opoku, for his continuous derogatory comment against Muslins that has the propensity to stoke religious conflict in the region in particular and the country at large.
The regional communication director of the NPP, Marlick Adjei, made the appeal at a press conference in Sunyani yesterday. This is in response to a comment made by Eric Opoku on a political platform at Acherensua last week to the effect that Muslims who follow the NPP (which symbol is an elephant) are not genuine Muslims because the Quran in sura 105 hates or curses Muslims who have something to do with the elephant.
Mr. Marlick Adjei said the regional minister’s comment was in bad taste and asked him to retract it and apologize as his comment is ‘fanning religious fires in the region,’ especially as he (Adjei) is the chairman of the Regional Security Council.
Flanked by the regional secretary of the party, Afred Ofori Annye; the regional communication director said Eric Opoku’s comment stemmed from the fact that the president himself in his recent State of the Nation Address to parliament, linked a Muslim woman by name Zenabu Sumaila to pigs – an animal Muslims abhor as stated in Suratulbaqara (Sura 172) and Suratulmaida (Sura 5 ayat 2) – as a beneficiary of LEAP funds.
These comments he said, are meant to score cheap political points and so pleaded with the NDC to stop using Islam in politics.
The statement said the NPP as a political party believes in the significant number of Muslims in the country – which is about 25% of the Ghanaian population – and the contributions they make as individuals and not about party logo.
Mr. Marlick Adjei called on the regional minister to stop using Nana Akufo-Addo’s age as a yardstick for performance saying, “Older presidents like Ouattara of Cote d’voire and Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, who are older than Nana, are performing better than President Mahama who is younger in age in terms of economic performance.
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