The acting National Director of the National Service Scheme (NSS) Dr. Michael Whyte Kpessa has accused the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) of “preaching ethnic bigotry”.
The comment comes on the back of a secret audio tape circulating on both social and traditional media which captures a male voice resembling that of former finance Minister Yaw Osafo Marfo 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.
In apparent reaction to the comments, the former Presidential staffer posted the following on his twitter handle: “#NPPGhana. The seriousness of a political party comes NOT from preaching ethnic bigotry but from offering innovative alternative policies”.
