Lawyer Kobina Tahir Hammond has played down allegations against him for branding Voltarians as non- Ghanaians, stating that the viral video about him has been misinterpreted.
According to Mr Hammond who is the Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa, the viral video of which he was seen addressing the press that has been labelled as ethnocentric comments against the people of the Volta Region was taken out of context.
Speaking to CitiNews he said, “that is not what I said. How can I brand the whole population of the Volta Region as non-Ghanaians? That was not what I said. I did not emphatically make that point. I have very good friends from the Volta Region including Fifi Kwetey, Okudzeto Ablakwa, Doe Adjaho some of whom are members of my fan club. I have grown well enough in politics to know that you do not have to stigmatize a particular section of a country because of politics. I didn’t say that.”
The MP had come under heavy criticism for his comment which some believe could breed chaos.
According to KT Hammond, some foreign nationals from neighbouring Togo had participated in the election re-run of the 2008 general elections as Ghanaians in Ketu South Constituency. For that reason, the presence of the military there is to safeguard the country’s borders.
“The military is there to make sure you vote if you are Ghanaian and if you have the constitutional right to vote. That’s all there is. They are not electoral officers, but they are peacekeeping forces. They are keeping the peace. They [Togolese] walk into the [Volta Region] and come out normally but they are not Ghanaians. When they walk in there, they can do whatever they do so I guess that is the reason for that,” KT Hammond said in the viral video.
Source: GhanaFeed.com
