Volta Region’ll be my wife – Akufo-Addo, as he says: ‘I’m no tribalist’
President Nana Akufo-Addo has said he will continue wooing the Volta Region until the stronghold of the biggest opposition party, ditches the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to marry the governing New Patriotic Party and his government.
While inaugurating the Five Piped Water Supply System in Amedzofe for 69,000 residents of three districts in the Volta Region on Tuesday, 1 September 2020, President Nana Akufo-Addo said he will “keep knocking on the door until the door is opened to me, until the Volta Region and the NPP are married”.
“I know that this constituency, Ho West, will one day revert to being a stronghold for the NPP as it once was for the United Party (UP)”, he said.
The President also denied claims that he is leading a tribalistic and divisive government with an agenda against Voltarians.
“No one who is committed to the Ghana Project, as I am, can have an ethnic agenda”, he said.
Rather, he noted, “we should shun all those who would promote ethnic sentiments and divisions amongst us for selfish, partisan, political ends”.
The President said: “There are people from this region, some of whom are well-known to you here in Amedzofe, who serve in sensitive parts of my government and influence decisions on a daily basis”.
“I may have my own failings, like we all do, but being a tribalist is not one of them”, the President insisted.
He told the gathering at Amedzofe in the Ho West District that if there is one person who recognises and appreciates the indivisibility of Ghana, it is him.
“In my time as President, development has been distributed equitably to all parts of the country, and the impact of our policies has been felt by all.
“So, I want to assure all of you that neither the NPP nor I have any plan whatsoever to bring division to any part of the country,” he said.
The President continued: “We do not have an ethnic agenda against any group or grouping in the country, and, certainly, we have no ethnic agenda against residents of the Volta Region.”
Recounting again the circumstances that has led to the deployment of soldiers along the country’s borders, President Akufo-Addo stressed again that the Volta Region was not and has not been singled out for any special military operation.
“The deployment of the military personnel along our borders is an ongoing nationwide exercise, and has been done across all our borders, and not in the Volta Region alone. One thousand (1,000) soldiers are the subject of this deployment, of which one hundred and sixty-three (163) are based along the borders of Volta,” he said.
The President noted that, “their presence is to guard against potential terrorist attacks on our shores, and to prevent the importation of the virus into our country. They have not been stationed at our borders to execute any political or ethnic agenda.”