Wa, July 6, GNA - Mr. Malik Issahaku, Upper West Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has said the party and would do everything possible to discourage fanning of divisive tendencies in it. "The party will take stringent measures against all members who go about planting divisive tendencies such as ethnicity, religion, chieftaincy and other issues that undermine unity and development in society," he told the GNA in an interview.

Mr. Issahaku was reacting to allegations leveled against the regional executive by a group calling itself "NDC Friends for peace in the Upper West Region."

The group had accused the Regional NDC Executive of choosing District Chief executives based on ethnicity and religious sects rather than on qualification. The group also accused the party leadership of "masterminding and bulldozing their way" for the approval of certain district chief executives who were slated to be rejected by their various district assemblies.

The Regional Chairman said on the part of selecting District Chief Executives, three persons from every district were short-listed based on their competence and qualification and the final selection was at the discretion of the president.

He therefore challenged members of the group to provide evidence of where people were discriminated against on grounds of ethnicity, religion and chieftaincy.

"Ever since NDC was formed in 1992, ethnicity, religion and chieftaincy issues have never formed part of our challenges and I wonder why some people are now trying to introduce such things into our rank and file."

Mr. Issahaku said people who carry their grievances straight to the media without first seeking redress with their leadership are not true members of the umbrella family.

"Unless they want to tell me that there are two NDCs, I will not understand why they should carry all their grievances to the media without mentioning it to us in leadership positions."

He appealed to true supporters of the party not to be swayed by the behaviour of the group but to channel their grievances to the leadership of the party for redress and work hard towards the successful implementation of development projects in the region.

"I want to believe that it is just a few of the people who could not make any mark for positions who are trying to pollute the minds of other members against the leadership of the party. You see you cannot all be considered for positions at the same time," he said.