The Bible says there are no longer Jews or Gentiles, all are one in Christ. And therefore, as an Orthodox, Evangelical, Bible believing, born Again, Conservative Practicing Christian, I firmly believe in the universal brotherhood of all mankind. And as someone who has been at the forefront of the fight against tribalism, I wish to state that there is not an ounce of tribalism in my blood. I also wish to state that I do not hold membership card of any political party in Ghana. Therefore, this article is not meant to instigate partisan politics nor tribal sentiments or tension of any kind. I am writing this article as an observer simply from academic stand point to further the fight against tribalism and ethnocentrism.
While it is a fact that His Excellency President John Mahama’s government has not adequately addressed Ghana’s socio-economic problems thus far, however, there is no justification whatsoever for the derogatory name calling such as “Pepeni” President. The disrespect and the insults that are hurled on him day by day mostly by ethnocentric Akan members of the NPP are rather very unfortunate. If what is happening on social media platforms is anything to go by, there are many independent Ghanaians who want to see a change which the NPP can capitalize on to win the 2016 elections. But if the ethnocentric Akans within the NPP continue to use derogatory words such as “Pepeni/Pepefuo” to insult the President and our brothers and sisters from the north, the party may well suffer another disastrous defeat in the 2016 elections which would not be in the best interest of Ghana.
The fact of the matter is that the NPP need the northern vote in order to win the 2016 election. I fail to see how insulting the northerners would inspire them to vote for the NPP so as to secure victory. If the party is serious about wining power in 2016, then the leadership of the party should advise party members especially the ethnocentric Akans to refrain from negative tribalistic activities such as the use of the derogatory term “Pepeni/Pepefuo” to insult our northern brothers and sisters, especially the current President, His Excellency John Mahama. Let us not forget, what goes around comes around, and we ripe what we sow.
His Excellency President John Mahama’s administration may have failed Ghanaians, but this has nothing to do with the fact that he is a northerner; therefore does not deserve the insults. Let us remember that the people from the north are our brothers and sisters and fellow Ghanaians for that matter, therefore must be accorded the due respect they deserve as fellow Ghanaians and human beings, especially the President of the Country.
It is evident that the John Mahama administration has not delivered therefore should go. However, this should be done at the polls and certainly not by derogatory name calling and disrespecting him as some people have been doing. These are not ordinary times in Ghana. The nation is contending with serious socio-economic issues, and tribalism isn’t going to cut it. There are important businesses to see to, not least among them stabilization of the cedi.
Permit me to speculate, the NPP is likely to win the 2016 elections on Nana Akufo Addo and Dr. Bawumia ticket. But my instincts tell me that Nana will be in office for just a short period and step aside for Dr. Bawumia to take over the Presidency. I believe Nana is a changed man, I see a great sense of humility in him since he came back from the U.K. He has since more or less apologized for some of his past mistakes regarding tribal statements such as “We Akans” and the “all die be die” statement. I don’t know about you, but as for me, this is a sign of a changed man who wants to do right by Ghanaians. His age and this sense of a new man wanting to do the right thing is the reason he would step aside for Dr. Bawumia to take over the presidency. This action and strategic move would make him the greatest statesman of all time in the history of Ghana.
Now that the NPP delegates have elected a party chairperson from the north and since it is inevitable that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia will become the President of the Republic of Ghana within the next two years; which would mean that, the two most important positions within the NPP namely “the Chairperson and the Flag-bearer” will be held by northerners respectively. Now let me ask the sixty million dollar question? How are the ethnocentric Akan members of the NPP going to handle this?
I also want to ask? when Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia becomes the President, will he be referred to as the “Pepeni” President? And I wonder how long before the newly elected party chairperson is referred to as “Pepeni” chairperson? Or are Dr. Bawumia and Mr. Paul Afoko any less of a northerner than His Excellency President John Mahama? This kind of double standard and hypocrisy must not be tolerated. You cannot have your cake and eat it, and certainly, you cannot take voters for grated and hope to win elections.
What kind of Ghana should we expect under Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s Presidency? I strongly believe Ghana would become the paradise we all want it to be. I have known Dr.Mahamudu Bawumia since our Sakasaka days back in Tamale, he is very intelligent, smart, an independent thinker, and hardworking, a natural born leader, and with the right people around him, Ghana’s fortunes will turn around for the better. However, in order for this to happen, it would require change of mindset, restrain, discipline and humility from all NPP members, especially the ethnocentric ones.
The tribal background of the President should not matter. What should matter is that, the President is competent and smart enough to lead and make things happen to improve the socio-economic conditions of all Ghanaians. Ghana belongs to all Ghanaians, so it doesn’t really matter which tribe the president comes from. Aren’t you sick and tired of the fact that Ghanaian politics has been reduced to tribal politics? By the way, where is all these tribal nonsense leading us?
I am not suggesting for a moment that we should not be proud of the tribe we come from, since being a member of a particular tribe is not a matter of choice. We cannot pick and choose which tribe we belong to; neither can we change our tribe. We cannot for the sake of convenience change our tribe and take on the tribe of another. While we can change our nationality as many have done in the diaspora, we cannot change our tribe because that is what identifies us as a people. We were born with our tribe not our nationality; therefore, there is nothing wrong with being proud of your tribe. What is wrong however is when we become ethnocentric, prejudice with a sense of tribal superiority, and look down on other tribes?
It is my hope and prayer that the ethnocentric Akan members of the NPP who have being using the derogatory language “Pepeni” to insult His Excellency President John Mahama, would see the bigger picture and refrain from using such language and wait patiently for 2016 to cast their vote to effect a change in a civilized manner. I also urge them to support Mr. Paul Afoko in his new role as the party chairperson, it is just possible that he is the messiah who will redeem and lead the NPP to the flag staff house.
The Bible says that the first shall be the last, and the last shall be the first. We all know that our brothers and sisters from the north have been behind for long time now through no fault of their own. I do believe it is now their turn to be first and run the affairs of Ghana. We must remember that God is no respecter of tribe and He can use any man or woman regardless of tribal background to fix Ghana’s problems. So the sooner the ethnocentric Akans get this and bury tribal sentiments, the better for Ghana and for NPP’s chances of winning the 2016 elections. The south have immensely benefited from Ghana’s wealth, the northerners must also be allowed to benefit from it. Tribalism in any form or shape must be condemned, and should not be tolerated whatsoever be it from the Ewes, Gas, Akans or any tribe for that matter.
Millions of Ghanaians are desperately looking to the NPP to win the 2016 elections in order to bring relief to the current severe economic hardship being experienced under the Manama administration. However, the behavior of ethnocentric Akans could well be the hindrance to the dreams, hopes and aspirations of millions of Ghanaians should the NPP suffer defect in 2016.
The Peace Broker has spoken; the ball is now in NPP’s court. Show us what the party is made of!
God bless Ghana, and Long Live Ghana.
Komla – the Self Proclaimed Peace Broker.
U.S.A.