Governance Expert, Dr. Fredrick Oduro has urged President Akufo-Addo to immediately dismiss the Upper East Regional Minister, Stephen Yakubu over alleged ethnocentric comments.
The Regional Minister is heard in an audio describing Northerners as greedy and untruthful.
According to Dr. Oduro it is unfair for the Regional Minister to remain at post.
“If it is proven that he said it then he does not have any moral authority or right to remain in office. Fact of the matter is that if you even have such thought privately then you shouldn’t take up public office. It is so unfair and denigrating to any group of people if anybody should look down upon them or stereotype them. It is not accepted by any international convention; it is not accepted by the constitution or any of our laws.
“So if you hold any important position like that of a Regional Minister you must show respect to all manner of people in the country and indeed beyond the country. It is a human right issue and if you can think that some people can be looked down upon, that you can stereotype some people, then you don’t have any right to even hold a public office.”
Dr. Oduro added that perpetrators must be punished to serve as a deterrent to others.
“If you have politicians perpetrating some of these views, when we have people pitching one group against the other, these do not auger well for our nationhood. We shouldn’t encourage it and often times we fail to punish politicians who do that. Even people seeking for office when they go to one part of the country will always seek to tell them that oh I am from this area so you are better off with me. Let individuals come on their own merit, let us see people for who they are and let us disabuse our minds about other tribes, it doesn’t help us. Most often than not some of these comments have no factual basis but it’s just stereotyping just to look down on one group so we should stop that, it is good for us.”
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM
