Yes! We are Northerners — And We Are Not Ashamed

Tuesday, May 6, 2026, will stay with me for a long time.

It was the day I almost struck my own forehead in disbelief and cried out to God: “Why did you name my ancestors Northerners? What did they do to deserve this?”

Because on that day, a person in high office — the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Linda Ocloo — stood before Ghanaians and declared Northern Ghana a place of punishment.

She said it plainly. Workers in her municipality who commit offenses would be transferred to the North “as a kind of punishment” to deter others.

Let that sink in.
To her, Northern Ghana is not a home. Not a land of history and people. It is a prison yard. A hell on earth for erring officials.

So I ask: Have our ancestors lived in hell all these years? And are we, their children, continuing that sentence?

Who does she think she is?
Who gave her the right to reduce the entire Northern zone— rich in culture, history, and contribution — to a dumping ground for disciplinary action?

If she truly understood her role as a Regional Minister and Greater Accra for that matter, she would know that Northern Ghana feeds this nation. That Northern Ghana has produced Presidents, Speakers of Parliament, Ministers, soldiers, and farmers who have built this country with their sweat and blood.

Yet in her mind, to “face the law” means to be exiled to the North.

This Is Not The First Time
Let’s not pretend this is new. We have not forgotten Deputy Minister William Agyapong Quaitoo, who told the whole country that Northerners are “difficult and liars,” even after living among us for 27 years and speaking Dagbani like a Dagomba.

We have not forgotten former Ashanti Regional Minister Simon Osei-Mensah, who said Northerners come to Kumasi for opportunities and never go back.

Three different officials. Three different times. One repeated message: The North is inferior.

But let me remind them of something.
Our ancestors did not choose to be Northerners. No one asked them at the time of creation. The colonialists drew lines on a map with the stroke of a pen, and just like that, we became “Northerners.” Ghana was one. No North. No South.

So don’t blame our parents. Don’t blame our grandparents. They found themselves here, and they built life here.

This Land Is Not Cursed. It Is Blessed.
To Osafo Marfo, who once said the North has no natural resources and depends on the South: come and see.

Our land grows maize, beans, millet, sorghum, and sugarcane.

Our pastures feed cattle, sheep, goats, horses, guinea fowl, and donkeys.

Our soil gives us mangoes, pineapples, groundnuts, yams, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, onions, pepper, ginger, and garlic.

This is the food that fills Ghana’s markets. This is what keeps families fed from Accra to Kumasi to Tamale.

And yet someone calls it hell.
Yes, our land is dry in places. But it is also dry enough to produce the best onions and peppers in the country. It is dry enough to produce resilience in its people.

We Are Proud. We Are Unashamed.
If I am given a choice in my next life, I will choose again — to be born a Northerner.

This is our identity. This is our badge. And we will wear it with pride.

President John Dramani Mahama is a Northerner. The Speaker of Parliament is a Northerner. Many of the Ministers running this country today are Northerners.

The same blood that our ancestors shed to hold this nation together flows in our veins today.

So to Linda Ocloo and to anyone else with that mindset: Northern Ghana is not your punishment yard.

Northern Ghana is not your hell.
Northern Ghana is our home. And we are proud of it.

Yes! We are Northerners. And we will never be ashamed of it.

_The writer is a Senior Journalist, an unashamed Northerner based in Greater Accra.