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Opinions of Wednesday, 4 June 2008

Columnist: Amankwah, Nana Kofi

What is the Danquah- Busia Tradition?

Prof, Mills deserves the award
He has done a lot for the nation
I urge all the UP members
to be tolerance and accommodates
People of other political views

Some egocentric New Patriotic Party (NPP) elders who are prominent surrogates behind these so called Danquah - Busia traditions are a bunch of political sycophants who lack an understanding of ethnic politics in Ghana. These elders have the audacity of changing the UP tradition name to Danquah- Busia tradition. ; their neforious actions has exacerbated division within the current NPP. The actions of these elders are a typical example limitation of our tradition for inclusiveness in our society

The essence of promoting the UP tradition as a symbol that unifies all ethnic groups across the nation who sacrificed their life to build and uphold this unique tradition for the next generation is diminishing. These aforementioned individuals think that it is in their best interest to use these two names to score political points for themselves and their future ethnic generations in our nation's political system. They still do not realize that using only Danquah -Busia names to foster this tradition have created ethnic political divisions which some ethnic groups within the UP tradition are claiming to be sole inheritors of this tradition .People like Akufo Addo and his cronies from the Akyem and Akuapim areas including some local chiefs in the Eastern region believe that Danquah- Busia tradition is their gig which I find total political nonsense. Those whose ancestors sacrificed their lives were not their slaves, while one will eventually think they are the slave masters so others who scarified for the UP tradition do not count.

They believe that changing the UP tradition name to Danquah Busia will suit their needs at any moment for them to engage in “self deception to justify their political ends. They think changing the name of this tradition from the UP to Danquah-Busia tradition will not continue to be a serious blunder for UP tradition. Then they haven’t seen anything yet. We will not allow this name change to happen in our public domain. As a result of this I urge all the UP tradition members and those who have been sending mails to me to speak on this issue along with others whose ancestors shed their blood to build this tradition. They should continue to reject this name Danquah-Busia's tradition on the basis that it does not represent the entire members who fought for this tradition. We must recognize the sacrifices of others who also contributed to build this tradition as well; and not to allow some ethnic groups within the UP traditions to use it for their own political ends. This in the sense of not creating a paranoia for the other ethnic groups who ancestors fought to show more respect for these Danquah & Busies ethnic groups who think they are above reproach.

If we compare and contrast in our Ghanaian political history this name change is an insult to the children and the great grand children of the patriots who sacrificed for this UP tradition. Such as Donbo who forms the Northern Peoples Party (NPP) in the Northern region, a great warrior whom these impudent elders think his sacrifices means nothing. Those from the Volta Region, Greater Accra, people like Obetsebi Lampty, Ako Adjei and many others, the Ashanti region, Baffour Akoto, the unknowns, my own grand father, Victor Owusu, the late Professor Albert Adu Boahen who went to jail to pave the way for the current democratic progress which the current and the future generations will continued to enjoy. Now these elders want to justify that these individuals’ sacrifices for this tradition also mean nothing. While this NPP impudent have carefully orchestrated and manipulated this name changes from the UP tradition to JB Danquah-Busia I call on all Ghanaians patriots to raise their voices and stop these political tactics that are designed to favor other ethnic groups in our modern UP traditional system.

From: Nana Kofi Amankwah (New York)


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