Fellow countrymen and women, allow me to say it is at once a somber occasion, and it is also at once a joyous occassion. It is somber because the event of last Friday demonstrates man's inhumanity to man. And it is at once a joyous occasion because it also demonstrates the victory of the NDC in the coming 2016 elections.

On such an occasion, one is bound to remember many things. One is bound to remember that Ghana was once enslaved. One is bound to remember the events of 2007 in Legon, where Mr. Paul Afoko was beaten for reasons one cannot best tell. One is bound to remember the aspersions that were cast upon the persona of Mr. paul Afoko in the attempt to disqualify him from contesting as national chairman of the NPP. One on this occasion is bound to remember the common song we hear on a daily basis, that Afoko is a mole of the NDC and thus working against Mr. Nana Akufo Addo.

One is bound to remember the events that happened not long ago, which saw the exchange of words, machetes and slaps at Asylum down. One is also bound to remember the sudden death of Adams Mahama.

But why must we remind ourselves of all these? These events have all climax the event of last Friday. The suspension of Mr. Paul Afoko. And one wonders why all these happened. Because, after the national conference of the NPP, one would have thought there will be no chaos and sorry in the NPP. Why do I have much concern about such an event? Because to a large extent, I have nothing to worry about and absolutely nothing to loss.

Simply, I am not a member of the NPP. But I remember profoundly the words of a great German pastor Martin Lemon who lamented after the second world war which was fought between 1939 and 1945. The war was essentially an ethnic war of the European tribes.

He said, "When the came for the communist I said nothing because I was not a communist. When they came for the trade unionist i said nothing because I was not a trade unionist. When the came for the Jews I said nothing because i was not a Jew. When they came for me there was nobody to say anything".

Today, I speak because i am a Ghanaian. When the NPP drafted their constitution, many believed that it was the guide that would enable them charter their own cause. A cause that seeks to lead the NPP into doing that which is acceptable.

Today, one can boldly say the NPP owe its constitution in breach. For the first time in NPP's history, their leader watched an event happen in his party as if he sat in his sitting room watching a love movie full of glamor.

He has done nothing in bridging the differences in his party.
He has done nothing to cement the many crakes in his party. The best one can hear from him is, "My party has a formidable team to wrestle power from a government of much incompetence".

Today, i fear for the NPP because the Holy Bible i read everyday, tells me a divided house cannot stand. I fear for them because i remember vividly how long the NPP has remained in opposition after the lost it many years back.

Today, my worries stems from the fact that the NPP as described as an Akan party has manifested its true identity.

I fear so much for them because what they NPP implies is that the blood of ethnicity is sometimes thicker than the blood of Christ. When we cast our minds to the event of last Friday, one would remember that the chairman was not there, and one will also remember the flagbearer was not also in attendance. The presidential candidate was eloquent in his silence.

It took the vice chairman, Mr. Blay, to convene a meeting in order to determine the fate of his boss. The meeting eventually saw the suspension of Mr.Paul Afoko by a unanimous decision as claimed. Remember, you and I were not there. How surprising! This I describe not only ethnocentric but retributive.

We have something to learn from the NPP. That they could not recognise that an eye for an eye would only make them blind. The NPP did not recognise that the long health of the party did not only requires but demanded that they must forgive.

On such an occasion, the very few words i have for Mr. Paul Afoko is he must forgive but never forget. Because his party has failed to rise from the ashes like the feeble phoenix. On this note, i will stop here with a simple question, what is wrong being a Northerner?

Mahama Socrates Samuel

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