The Immerging Monster Of Tribal Politics

There is an immerging monster crippling its ugly head in the midst of the infant, prospective and fertile region of Oti NPP which has the tendency of sinking the party in the region if not immediately checked and nibbed in the bud.

Spare me a few of your time to take you back through not too distant history.

The Oti region is a product of the regional reorganisation that was undertaken by H.E president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo during his first term of office.

This was as a result of a long pursued ambition of the people of this part of the then Volta region, to be an independent region of their own.

The listening president granted this wish despite failure by successive governments to grant same.

Oti region is here now and indeed has come to stay! The struggle and its attendant opposition prior to its creation remains very fresh in the minds of the people of Oti and all Ghanaians who followed proceedings leading to the creation of this popular region.

The party that materialised this long pursued dream of these people, the NPP, was very expectant, which is rightly so, of a grave endorsement in the form of an appreciation for making their dreams come true.

Sadly and unfortunately, that did not happen, even though the party appreciated its presidential votes over previous elections.

Again, the only seat the party held in the region prior to the election, was snatched by the opposition NDC.

One would have thought and expected that a party that has failed this much despite this unpresidented gesture offered them, would have quickly come together, rethink, strategies, unite and bounce back stronger. Strangely, there is a deadly monster that is showing its ugly head in the NPP in the Oti region that if not checked and immediately curtailed, has the potential of moving the party back from its current poor performance to its possible extinction in the region.

CREATION OF THE OTI REGION.

During the struggle for the creation of this region, no mention was made of any group in this region as being indegenes nor settlers. All the inhabitants of the region were made to believe that this was a struggle that is devoid of tribal, political or religious priority.

The Joint Consultative Committee(JCC) that was formed to spearhead this project at all levels, had its membership drawn from all political, tribal and religious backgrounds. It was very assuring and satisfying to see people of different tribal, political and religious orientations fighting for a common goal, that is the creation of the Oti region. The inspiration that the youth drew from this, fortified all to get involved and eventually, we won TOGETHER! We were convinced that we were fighting for our collective liberation and not for any few group.

NPP IN THE OTI REGION.

Fast forward to the beautiful achievement of this satisfying goal, it is emerging that there exist a very sharp distinction between the people of the region and that some people are not indigenes of the region, hence, do not deserve to benefit or occupy certain positions of influence in the region.

To the proponents of this shameful school of thought, appointment of people to occupy sensitive positions in the region should not be factored on the person's abilities, competences, hardwork, service to the party and experience, but the question of whether the person is an indigene of the Oti region or a settler.

Interestingly and quite hypocritically, we the people of then Northern Volta region strongly opposed and fought our former colonial masters in the then Volta region together against this wanton discrimination,relegation and perceived consideration as second class citizens of the region by our colleagues from the south then. Today, we do not see anything wrong with the same discrimination,tribalism and ethnic tendencies we strongly stood against and fought a few years ago.

Come to think of it! Interestingly again, this is being championed by some members of the political party that is undoubtedly the minority in the region and should be focused on uniting its ranks to redeem itself in the next elections.

Collective party interest is being sacrificed on the alter of greed and selfishness.

I am very reluctant to appear tribalistic but would certainly rely on verifiable data in my write up to help distinguish expectations from reality.

Data obtained from the 2010 population and housing census undertaken in the Oti region reveal that, the two major leading single majority tribes or ethnicities in the Oti region are all "so called settlers" and not any of the indigenous tribes or ethnicities in the Oti region.

We are made to believe that politics is about numbers and if indeed so, would a political party that is positioning itself to win a region like the Oti region, be interested in who is an indigene against who is a settler?

When voting is conducted and during counting of same, do we segregate votes obtained by indegenes against those obtained by settlers?

Must the party sacrifice its growth and prospects in the region to satisfy indigenes?

These are questions that all lovers of the party in the region must focus on answering, devoid of emotions but by prioritising the growth and performance of the party in the region.

THE NDC FACTOR.

Let me now come to the NDC in the Oti region.

This is the party that has enjoyed unconditional loyalty from the people of the Oti region but unfortunately has nothing compensating to show in return for this consistent support.

There are eight (8) parliamentary seats in the Oti region and these are all regrettably held by the NDC.

Interestingly, of all these eight MPs elected to Parliament on the ticket of the NDC, only two (2) of the MPs are indigenes. That is, the Biakoye and Krachi West constituencies. The rest six constituencies are all "so called settlers". Are there not indegenes of Oti region in the NDC?

Is it the case that the NDC is more friendly and accommodating to settlers whereas the NPP that is struggling to gain dominance in the Oti region rather abhors settlers and think only indigenes are the rightful beneficiaries of the success of the party?

From the foregoing in the Oti region, something must be learned from the NDC by the NPP and this should be immediately.

Let the NPP learn to be accommodating of all people in the region, irrespective of their tribal or religious backgrounds.

Let not allow some individuals who are desperately pursuing their selfish agenda and believe they can only succeed by fanning this tribal flames, gain any attention because, they do not love the party as they would want us to believe. They are rather speedily destroying the party and must be stopped!

Let us instill in the youth of our party in the region the value that when you work very hard for the party, and serve the party deligently and in loyalty, you stand the chance of benefiting from the NPP in the Oti region some day.

And that, you do not need to belong to a particular tribe to be able to serve your party or region.

No one played any deliberate role in determining their tribes or families they were born into and so our competencies, capabilities and readiness to serve should not be sacrificed on tribalism.

Let us not allow these greedy and selfish individuals threaten the peaceful and harmonious coexistence that the people of the Oti region have enjoyed over the years.

Let us rise against these individuals and expose them that political parties are built on ideologies and not on tribal or geographical lines.

NPP in the Oti region has a very long way to go and must not allow this monster to drag us back.

Already, we are paying a prize for this monster. It was this same monster that caused us some seats that we could have easily won in the just ended election.

If we do not fight and conquer this monster in its tender stage, then let us be rest assured that neither indigenes nor settlers would benefit from the party when the party goes to opposition and that the NDC that has demonstrated its welcoming of diversity would continue to be attractive to the "so called settlers".

Let us learn something from sports! When a team wins a trophy, medals are awarded to all players including players on the bench who did not even wear the Jersey nor participated in the games.

It teaches us that we should joyfully share our successes and not discriminate.

The NPP in Oti region has no option than to restrategise and bounce back strong in the next election.

This success would certainly elude us when we fail to arise and fight this monster.

Assalaamu Alaikum!

Long live Oti region!

Long live NPP!

May God bless our homeland Ghana, and make us great and strong!!!

Hajj Wan

NPP YOUTH ACTIVIST

I shall be back!