Dr Stephen Amoah is a Member of Parliament for Nhyiaeso
Members of TESCON have condemned comments made by the Member of Parliament for Nhyiaeso, Dr Stephen Amoah, in which he claimed that Christians can never vote for a Muslim to become President of Ghana.
At a press conference held on Saturday, June 21, TESCON members from the SD Dombo University (SDDU expressed displeasure with the MP’s remarks, describing then as divisive and unbefitting of a senior member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The group cited the results of the recent NPP presidential primaries, where Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, a Muslim, emerged victorious even in Dr Amoah’s own constituency.
“Let’s go to his constituency in this, in the just- ended elections. The person who said Christians will not elect a Muslim got 35,502 votes. Dr Mahamudu Bawumia who he said is a Muslim and for that matter Christians will not vote for him, beat him in his constituency by 35,648.
“Basically all what he said at Kumasi Technical University is shallow, is something that we the intellectual wing of the party we cannot go by and for that matter, in all humility and modesty, we call on him to come out and apologise to the good people of Ghana”, the spokesperson said.
He recounted that on June 20, during a capacity-building event organised by the Kumasi Technical University TESCON chapter, Dr Amoah made statements that, in their view, promoted religious bigotry.
“We believe those statements were highly divisive. He said, and I quote ‘Muslims are not from God,’ and further claimed that Christians will not elect a Muslim leader. As the intellectual wing of the party, we want to go on record to say we do not believe in division, and we strongly reject any comment that promotes religious discrimination in this country”, the spokesperson added.
The group emphasised that the platform at Kumasi Technical University was meant to be one that inspired young people, not one used to sow division.
“In all humility and modesty, we call on Dr Stephen Amoah to retract his comments and issue an unqualified apology to the good people of Ghana and to TESCON. That event was meant to uplift students, many of whom are struggling with personal and academic challenges. Instead, he chose to divide us”, he noted.
During his engagement with the student wing of the party in Kumasi, Dr Amoah reportedly told the audience that Christians in Ghana would not vote for a Muslim to become President.
TESCON has made it clear that such views do not represent the collective spirit of inclusiveness within the NPP or the values of Ghana’s democracy.
JKB/EB
All you need to know about the ‘chairmen’ of ‘The Enterprise’ set to be extradited to US
