Member of Parliament for Essikado Ketan Constituency, Joe Ghartey, has condemned the stereotyping of Voltarians.
Mr Ghartey, who prides himself as “a Voltarian by choice,” said an end must be put to the stereotyping of Ewes and everyone for that matter.
He made the call while contributing to the debate regarding the controversial textbook that sought to denigrate Ewes, on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, March 17, 2021.
Mr Ghartey, the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, who introduced the Justice for All Programme in Ghana, said “the unity of Ghana is above politics.”
Badu Nkansah Publications, the publishers of some textbooks meant for basic school pupils, have been widely condemned over portions of the books that denigrated the Ewe ethnic group in Ghana.
One of the textbooks – History of Ghana, Text Book 3 – was authored by Badu Nkansah and Nelly Martinson Anim.
Another textbook: Golden English Basic 4 was authored by Okyere Baafi Alexander both of which were said to contain bigoted content targeted at Ewes.
According to the National Council for Curriculum Assessment, the three textbooks: “History of Ghana for Basic 6 by Golden Publications, which carries distasteful information about Dr Kwame Nkrumah and the Convention People’s Party, History of Ghana Textbook 3 by Badu Nkansah Publications, which features a song that shows the Ewes identity; Golden English Basic 4 by Golden Publications, which displays ‘Efo agrees to prepare the juju for the players’ on page 17,” are all unapproved.
But Mr Ghartey said Voltarians need not be stereotyped for whatsoever reason, noting emphatically that the textbooks saga cannot be handled with politics.
He said the first presidential election in Ghana was between Dr Joseph Boakye Danquah and Dr Kwame Nkrumah and that Voltarians voted for Dr Danquah, who is one of the forebears of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He said the fact that Voltarians vote for the National Democratic Congress today should not be used to stereotype them because if they voted for Dr Danquah in the past, they could also vote for NPP tomorrow.
He stressed the need for Ghanaians to unite and do away with stereotyping one another.