An article by the General Secretary of Volta Region Young Turks Federation: Aka The Volta Collective with heading :- ‘’Stop the campaign of calumny against Chief of Staff Prosper Douglas Bani ‘’ ‘on Ghanaweb the other day is strikingly dangerous, foul and disgusting‘’ . Readers can refer to this: http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=291434&comment=9869081#com.

In the article, the Volta Collective sought to condemn AL HAJJ newspaper for daring to attack the President Mahama’s Chief of Staff Mr. Prosper Douglas Bani, a Voltarian, in ways Volta Collective thinks, suggests that the CS should be removed as Chief of Staff or transferred to another section of the Presidency- alluding to the idea that AL Hajj was rooting for somebody who obviously thinks he deserves to be there but has not been offered the opportunity. Volta Collective cited similar attacks by the same newspaper on the National Security Advisor, Lt-Col Larry Gbevlo- Lartey (rtd), another Voltarian, on more than one occasion suggesting that the security capo would soon be sacked. Volta Collective was not happy that an NPP MP should be taking part in the umbrage..

Going deeper into the article Volta Collective made references about the voting patterns of Voltarians which were clearly in favour of Mahama/NDC so the latter must respect, give and sustain Voltarian huge presence in their government. At this stage, I began to find quarrels with Volta Collective, since I noticed they were wading fast into absurdities and contradictions in their attempt to justify huge Volta region personnel requirement in the Mahama administration. They got me annoyed with their warped thinking..

AL Hajj had argued against the performance of the Chief of Staff /National Security coordinator and called for their replacement. I expected Volta collective to counter the performance issue raised and stop being ethnocentric. Volta Collective is telling us that AL Hajj should have considered the Volta ethnic background of the CD and spared him, whether the CD/NSC were nobodies or not? Is it that the ethnic background of Ministers and government Appointees should now be considered to keep non-performers in their positions? Why should the home region of Prosper Bani or Lt Col Gbevlo Lartey become an issue in their performance evaluation by Volta collective or anybody? Are we to measure the performance of persons with Regions? I hereby condemn this action from Volta Collective. I am not interested in the merits and demerits of AL Hajj arguments based on which he attacked the performance of Prosper Bani and Lt Col Gbevlo Lartey. My beef is against the serious and inflammable ethnocentric sentiments espoused by Volta Collective in their challenge.

Volta Collective must not expect to eat their cake and have it. Voltarians and Northeners must be aware that their citizens dominate in the NDC govt – in the executive, army and police high commands, Board members, commissioners and other top positions so they should be prepared to accept that Voltarian/Northener appointees will be greatly affected in any NDC -term evaluations, criticisms, dismissals, terminations and analysis more than appointees from the other regions. Many Voltarians will naturally be affected in such nasty events. To explain away that Voltarians so affected are then being harassed or victimised is an insult to natural justice. We are not going to allow such weird intimidations and lamentations in our democracy from any quarters.

At one time, Voltarian chiefs displayed same crude solidarity when Woyome fraud came to the public domain and he was being criticised and lampooned left, right and centre, daily, then they came out to defend the latter as being an illustrious son of Volta Region and we should be careful of our criticisms of him. Is Volta Collective also saying Prosper Bani and Lt Col Gbevlo Lartey are illustrious sons of Volta Region so we should stop calling for their dismissals no matter what? Volta Collective must come again. Another bad example from Volta Region concerned the Dan Abodakpi incarceration during Kufuor’s administration.

In the same way, in the early days of Mahama administrations, some NDC rabble rousers led by Murtala Muhammed, the Deputy Minister of Information tried hard to sew the distasteful idea that President John Mahama was facing criticisms and even being challenged in the Supreme Court because he was a Northener. The idea was deemed ethnocentric and dangerous and was shot down quickly by many decent minded Ghanaians. So I am telling Volta Collective that they have sounded foul, dangerous, disgusting and provocative.

John Yawose