The National Democratic Congress (NDC) General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has assured that the discriminatory utterances by a presidential hopeful, Alban Bagbin, have not been on the blindside of the party.
Having already warned aspirants to ensure a clean campaign, Mr. Asiedu Nketia said the party was “taking steps to ensure that regulations will be [respected].”
[contextly_sidebar id=”YcFlDY6zKzp0QurPiuGHCsiq1bbHBHFO”]This was in response to calls for Mr. Bagbin to be sanctioned for the derogatory comments.
Mr. Bagbin, the Nadwoli Kaleo MP, told delegates in the Volta Region that the appointment of Dr. Edward Omane Boamah and Dr. Henry Seidu Danaa as Minister for Communications and Minister for Chieftaincy respectively, contributed to the NDC election 2016 defeat because the former was a stammerer, and the latter was visually impaired.
Following this, Mr. Asiedu has cautioned against “offended parties also taking the law into their own hands and firing back.”
He also said “the various structures will look at all these issues and take the appropriate steps… when we talk about structures, some of them will do investigations, some of them will do fact-finding. If there is evidence, some of them will sit on it.”
Bagbin must resign
Mr. Bagbin’s comments have been met with calls for his resignation.
The NDC’s Deputy National Communications Officer aspirant, Jacob Atule Adongo, told Citi News he must immediately resign after apologizing.
“He [Alban Bagin] has disappointed me and has made comments that I think he must resign as an MP and deputy speaker and apologize to all persons with disability.”
Capacity, competence matter more than physical disability – Goosie Tanoh
A flagbearer hopeful of the NDC, Goosie Tanoh, also disagreed with Mr. Bagbin for dismissing the capabilities of two of then-President John Mahama’s appointees.
Speaking on Citi TV’s Point of View, Mr. Tanoh said such appointments by then-President Mahama were progressive and an affirmation of the constitution.
“I would think that if you are appointed somebody who had any kind of disability because of the competence and merits and capacity; that is a good thing.”
“[If you appoint somebody] who is blind, but has the capacity and ability, then you are fulfilling the constitution which says no discrimination. I believe that we must look at some of these things in the proper context of the values that our constitution support,” Mr. Tanoh remarked.
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citinewsroom.coom/Ghana