Volta North NPP bemoans “discriminatory” ministerial appointment

Some constituency executives of the governing New Patriotic Party in the northern part of the Volta region have described the recent ministerial nominees announced by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as discriminatory.

The President last week announced a list of 36 ministerial nominees, two of whom are from the Volta region, namely,  John Peter Amewu; for the  Lands and Natural Resources ministry and Kofi Dzamesi, minister-designate for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs.

The nomination of the two individuals from the Ewe-speaking southern part of the region, is creating uneasiness among the party supporters in northern Volta, who were expectant of a nomination from their side as well.

A press statement signed by some executives from the three Krachi constituencies, described as “discriminatory, unfair and demoralizing” the non-appointment of a citizen of northern Volta to a substantive ministerial position, despite the massive support the NPP enjoyed in that part of the region in 2016 elections.

Excerpts of the statement read:  “It is so sad that the list of ministerial nominees which make up the main ministers released so far has no one from the Volta North. The two ministers designate who hail from the region all come from the southern part of the region. We consider this unfair and would like to bring this to the attention of the president, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo and our dear party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP). Already, the party grassroots in the Volta North are beginning to be agitated about the situation. People are asking whether history is going to be repeated.

“The Volta North has always remained faithful to the Dankwa-Busia political tradition, but, unfortunately we have not been rewarded accordingly anytime the tradition got the opportunity to form government. We are often forgotten when it comes to major ministerial appointments. We would like to use this opportunity to draw the attention of the president, the NPP and the general public to some historical facts to buttress our point”.

The statement has therefore urged the party hierarchy and the president not to repeat ‘mistakes of the past’ and rather take steps to ‘correct the anomaly’ in the interest of the fairness and party cohesion