“I hold Dr Bawumia in the highest regard, just as I respect all qualified contenders within our party.”
Hon Davis Ansah Opoku (OPK) is addressing and refuting recent allegations of tribalism directed against him, asserting that such claims are based on a deliberate misrepresentation of a private conversation.
He clarifies that his comments, taken out of context, were a critical response to a regionalist assertion made within a WhatsApp group discussion.
In a press statement, OPK who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mpraeso, explains that his argument was intended to expose the inconsistencies in the logic that leadership should be regionally rotational, rather than merit-based.
He emphasises his respect for Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and all qualified political figures, affirming a commitment to principles of inclusivity, equal opportunity, and national unity.
“I am above cheap blackmail and petty propaganda. I hold Dr Bawumia in the highest regard, just as I respect all qualified contenders within our party,” he states.
The Mpraeso MP concludes with a call to reject ethnocentric narratives in favour of a political discourse grounded in competence and cohesion.
Below is Hon Davis Ansah Opoku (OPK)’s Press Statement:
PRESS STATEMENT
RE: FALSE ALLEGATIONS OF TRIBAL COMMENTS AGAINST DR. BAWUMIA
My attention has been drawn to a mischievous and deliberately distorted publication alleging that I made tribal comments against Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. This publication is not only false but also a gross misrepresentation of a conversation that occurred in a private WhatsApp group.
Let me set the record straight:
- The suggestion that I objected to a northerner becoming flagbearer is completely unfounded. My comment was a direct response to a post by one Tamimu, himself a northerner, who questioned how Hon. Bryan Acheampong could be considered for flagbearer simply because he is from the Eastern Region—implying that two successive flagbearers cannot come from the same region.
- In exposing the flawed logic of that argument, I referenced the current President, John Mahama, who is from the North. If we are to follow Tamimu’s line of reasoning, then we should equally question why another northerner should succeed President Mahama. It was never an attack on northerners—it was a rebuttal of a divisive and regionalist claim made by one of their own.
I am above cheap blackmail and petty propaganda. I hold Dr. Bawumia in the highest regard, just as I respect all qualified contenders within our party.
It must also be said—clearly and without apology—that it is no crime to be Akan. Every Ghanaian, regardless of ethnicity or background, deserves equal opportunity to lead and to serve.
Let us focus on building a political tradition and a country anchored in merit, unity, and competence—not in division and ethnocentric rhetoric.
Signed
Davis Ansah Opoku (OPK)
Member of Parliament, Mpraeso Constituency
Story: Lawal Mohammed
