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You cannot win Election 2020 with tribalism, Vice-President Bawumia tells Mahama

Dr Mahamudu Bawumia describes the “Akyem sakawa boys” comments by the former president John Mahama as divisive and disparaging

Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia has described as divisive comments by John Dramani Mahama, the former president, describing President Akufo-Addo and fellow members of his maternal tribe in government as “Akyem sakawa boys”.

Mahama endorsed a tribally incendiary posting, repeating the text on his official Facebook page and highlighting the disparaging portion. The former president has since come under attack, with many people describing his comments as unstatesmanlike.

Addressing a durbar of chiefs and people in Gushegu on Sunday, Dr Bawumia expressed surprise and disgust at the former president’s comments. Ghana is a united country that has moved beyond the kind of tribal politics the former president is promoting, he said.

“The recent utterances of John Mahama referring to ‘Akyem sakawa boys’ … how do you take a whole tribe and say they are sakawa? How do you do that?” he asked.

The vice-president pays homage to one of the Gushegu chiefs

The vice-president noted that the person at whom the former president was directing his disparaging comments, President Akufo-Addo, is a man widely acknowledged as a champion of peace, having played a significant role in the resolution of the Dagbon crisis.

“The paramount chief of Gushegu, Gushe-Naa Abdulai Shitobu, has just said, and I quote him: ‘Dagbon owes Nana Akufo-Addo Addo a depth of gratitude.’

“He appreciates what Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has done and Nana Akufo-Addo is not a Dagomba man. He is an Akyem man, and an Akan, who has brought peace to Dagombaland through his efforts, along with others, [brought] peace to Dagbon, so we are grateful to him.”

Dr Bawumia wondered why the former president Mahama had chosen to disparage Akyems, who are proud Ghanaians just like any other tribe in Ghana.

“Nana Akufo-Addo, yes, he is an Akyem man but he is a Ghanaian, and the Akyem people are proud Ghanaians, as are other tribes.

“If you look at our Big Six, three of them are from Akyem. These are not the kind of people you can blatantly call sakawa boys. So we will continue to call on John Mahama to apologise unreservedly for what he has endorsed.”

Message to Mahama

Dr Bawumia sent a clear message to the former president that the December elections will be fought on competence and records in office, not along ethnic lines.

“My message to John Mahama is that you cannot win the presidency with tribalism. Ghana has gone beyond tribalism.

“Come and show your competence in the delivery for the people of Ghana,” Bawumia said. “But because you cannot show your competence, you are resorting to tribalism … This election is going to be fought on our records, not on tribalism.”

The vice-president reiterated that President Akufo-Addo has proved to be a unifier by his deeds.

“We want unity and we want a president who will unite us. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has demonstrated that he is that president by what he has done, not only in Dagbon, but other places.”

Click on the link to listen to Vice-President Bawumia.

 

Wilberforce Asare / Asaase Radio

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