N/R: Northern Chiefs Want Agric Minister Fired

Minister for Food and Agriculture, Mr. Owusu Afriyie-Akoto

The Coalition of Young Chiefs in the Northern Region is demanding the immediate dismissal of the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Mr. Owusu Afriyie-Akoto for his ‘dirty’ comments against northerners.

The indigenes of the region reacted to what they are describing as the inhuman and dirtiest comments made by the Minister in a press conference.

According to the irate group, Mr. Akoto recently took a swipe at them when he shared that northerners through the government flagship program of planting for food and jobs program now erect proper houses with cement and standard roofing sheets, as well as buying for themselves motorbikes and cars to facilitate good living condition within the northern environs.

The chiefs are not taking those statements of the Agric Minister lightly and are asking for his immediate apology and dismissal.

This is the second time a Minister from the Agric Ministry has provoked people from the north with ethocentric comments. In 2017, The Deputy Minister for Agriculture, William Quaitoo resigned for what many have described as ethnocentric comments about people from the three regions of the North.

Mr. Quaitoo came under fire for saying, in an interview on Accra-based Star FM, that northern farmers could not be trusted in their assessment of damage from armyworms.

He further intimated that calls for government compensation for farm losses from the farmers were simply a ploy to fleece the state.

Mr. Quaitoo subsequently apologised for his comments in a statement, where he said he meant to imply that “some farmers can be difficult as it is with all regions.”

Below is a statement from the Coalition on the matter:

NORTHERN REGION COALITION OF YOUNG CHIEFS DEMANDS APOLOGY ALONGSIDE THE DISMISSAL OF #MR . OWUSU AFRIYIE - AKOTO ( MINISTER FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE) REGARDING HIS DIRTY COMMENTS MADE ON NORTHERNERS:

The indigenes of northern region earlier today in a press conference reacted to the inhuman and most dirtiest comments made by the Minister for food and Agriculture #Mr. Owusu Afriyie - Akoto regarding how northerners through the government flagship program #Planting for food and jobs now erect proper houses with cement and standard roofing sheets, as well as buying for themselves motorbikes and cars to facilitate good living condition within the northern environs.

The chiefs in their press release are worried and highly infuriated about the usual kind of inhuman and dirty comments always made by government officials on to the people of the north.

The youth chiefs indicated that northerners have been farming to cater for the country, as well as West Africa at large for the passed decades which has lead to greater achievements in the field of education, housing among others that the minister ( #Mr. Owusu Afriyie - Akoto ) is seeing today within northern region.

In relation to the above, the chiefs consider the minister's comments as deliberate attempt to make northerners look inferior in the country despite the people efforts in nation building even prior to independence 1957 and therefore demand from him apology alongside resignation to curb this usual phenomena.

In fact, they ( the chiefs ) further warn politicians in general to desist from using such usual kind of harsh and irresponsible statements on northerners in order not to throw the state into disarray through tribal conflict.