The Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, has stated that he would possibly have been an avowed NPP member if political affiliation were based on lineage.

According to him, his grandfather was one of the founding fathers of the UP tradition; the main opposition party in the First Republic of Ghana.

He made the disclosure during an interview with Metro TV on April 14, 2025.

In his estimation, his grandfather’s role in the formation of the United Party (UP) tradition, which has evolved to become the New Patriotic Party (NPP), could have influenced his affiliation to the party, but he opted to join the National Democratic Party (NDC) instead.

“Politics is a matter of choice and interest at any point in time. And I say it with all seriousness. I always tell people that if political association was based on heritage, I would have been more NPP than most of the NPP guys,” the Tamale Central MP said.

In furtherance of his point, he stated that his own exploration of the political history of the country, led him to aggravate towards the ideologies of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, which guided his choice of political association.

“As a young man growing up, I developed the interest of understanding by reading around the political history of Ghana. While at it, nothing could be more convincing than associating myself with Nkrumah, his ideologies and what he did for this country,” he recounted.

He added that the controversy about the naming of the Tamale International Airport revolved around his grandfather (Yakubu Tali), but he fully supports the stance taken by President John Mahama to rename it after Naa Gbewaa.

“My grandfather was one of the founding fathers of the UP tradition. The battle over the renaming of the Tamale International Airport revolved around my grandfather, but I think President Mahama did the best thing by changing it,” he said.

The minister underscored that though his grandfather’s contribution to politics was clearly established, he found the renaming of the Tamale Airport after Naa Gbewaa more compelling.

“Clearly, everyone appreciates the contribution my grandfather made to the UP tradition in the politics of this country, but I think that the reasons for which we think that the airport should be named after Naa Gbewaa was more compelling,” he said.

VPO/AE

Meanwhile, catch up on the concluding part of the story of Fort William, where children were sold in exchange for kitchenware, others, below: