Flagbearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Akufo-Addo has described comments made by Alhaji Collins Dauda, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, that Muslims should not vote for the NPP due to what he said was the party’s dislike for adherents of such faith as divisive and unfortunate.
Mr Dauda, while addressing some Muslim youth in Koforidua in the Eastern Region, had said: “They [NPP] are accusing several Muslims of not being Ghanaians. In 2000, they claimed that over 631 Muslims were not Ghanaians in Adeiso. Today, that same person is in the Zongos trying to convince you and telling you things. The NPP that is talking to you today cannot be trusted. If you give them the chance to come to power again, they will do the same things to you.
“The NPP looked into my face and told me that because I am Moshie, I am not a Ghanaian and they challenged me to go to court until the court cleared me. These are the people we are talking about. My brothers and sisters, must you entertain someone who has hurt and deprived you in the past? These UP people are not people that the NDC and Muslims must listen to and trust…”
Reacting to these comments, Mr Akufo-Addo said there was no logic in the statement.
“I have heard one of their leaders saying, me, Akufo-Addo, who has a Muslim as my running mate, does not like Muslims, and that I will discriminate against Muslims when I win the elections. Is this possible? There is no logic in this kind of statement,” he told the chiefs and people of Adabokrom, in the Bia East constituency of the Western Region on Thursday August 11.
Mr Akufo-Addo noted that anyone whose language was divisive or tribal had no love for Ghana and, therefore, urged that such comments should be treated with the contempt it deserved.
According to him Mamprusis, Dagartis, Akyems, Ashantis, Christians or Muslims are all Ghanaians and, therefore, the development of the country affects everyone. “When Ghana prospers, we all prosper,” he added.
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
