[ 2015-02-19 ]

NDC accuses Osafo Marfo of “primitive tribal bigotry”
The governing National Democratic Congress (NDC)
has described as “tribal bigotry” and
“primitive”, comments allegedly made by former
flagbearer-aspirant of the main opposition New
Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Yaw Osafo Marfo to the
effect that non-Akans whose home regions are
bereft of natural resources are rather those at
the helm of the country’s affairs.

“We in the National Democratic Congress
unreservedly condemn this extreme form of tribal
bigotry exhibited by Mr Osafo Marfo.

“We are utterly dismayed that in spite of his
years of education, exposure and experience, Mr
Osafo Marfo will hold such primitive views about
national leadership, and proceed to make comments
that have the potential to tear apart the very
fabric that bind us together as one people with a
common destiny,” Fred Agbenyo, a Deputy
Communications Officer of the party said at a
press conference Wednesday February 18, 2015.


In the party’s view, the alleged comments are
“incendiary and ethnically divisive.”

A secret audio tape circulating on both social and
traditional media captures a male voice resembling
that of the former finance Minister bemoaning that
even though about 90 percent of Ghana’s natural
resources are concentrated in mainly Akan-speaking
regions of the country, it is people who come from
regions without resources that are governing the
country.

The tape was apparently captured at a meeting
between the former Finance Minister and the
NPP’s Council of Elders in the Eastern region.

The voice, which mostly spoke in the local Twi
language, but punctuated the delivery with some
English, is heard bemoaning why Akan-speaking
people, whose regions are rich with natural
resources, are not the ones at the helm of
managing those resources.

“…You have all the resources, but you have no
say in the management of your resources and that
is what is happening. Your development depends on
the one who has no resources,” the voice said.

“You can’t say this openly,” he cautioned
the Council members, but added that they are at
liberty to talk about it among Asantes.

“We should protect ourselves, we should protect
our income. No one who is the source of income,
the source of revenue, the source of resources
allows another person without those resources the
chance [to rule over them].

“It’s never done anywhere in the world. In the
world over, it is the group with the most
resources that rules and not the other way
around,” the voice said.

In the estimation of the voice, “86.5 percent of
resources in Ghana come from five regions: Brong
Ahafo, Ashanti, Eastern, Western and Central. This
is where 86 percent of the resources of Ghana come
from… And the oil was also discovered in the
West. It will change the formula to about 90
percent. We cannot ignore these five regions. We
should not,” the voice added.

When Starr News contacted Mr Osafo Marfo via text
messages to get him to speak about the tape and
its content, he replied that he was in a meeting
and could not speak.

Source - Starrfmonline

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