There is a looming division among the rank and file of the Gonjaland Youth Association, as some executives are allegedly hiding behind the group to pursue their political agenda in the interest of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The move, which is said to have infuriated some members of the association and a number of executives, is currently turning into personal hatred among the leadership.
Sources disclosed to DAILY GUIDE that some leaders were trying to drag others and the entire membership of the group into supporting the bid of President John Dramani Mahama ahead of the December polls.
The argument the group is allegedly putting up is that the president is a Gonja and must be supported to advance the cause of Gonjas if he emerges victorious in the 2012 polls.
But sources revealed that some members had petitioned the president of the association to rein in self-seeking members who were trying to drag the name of the association into disrepute.
A copy of another petition written and signed by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Northern regional scribe, Dr. Clifford Braimah, warned of deepening internal wrangling within the association if the leadership failed to act immediately.
�This, when not tackled immediately, has the tendency to drag the whole association into a political minefield, which will not benefit the association or Gonjaland in anyway,� it stated.
According to the petition, if this was allowed, it would smack of discrimination to the highest order in Gonjaland, knowing very well that its membership was made up of personalities belonging to different political parties.
According to Dr. Braimah, who is a Gonja, he would ensure that the association did not allow itself to be used in making statements that suggested everybody should support one political party.
�We need to be reminded that for now we have one of our own, Dr. Abu Foster Sakara, leading the CPP whilst others such as my good self, in the leadership of other political parties and if the association does not consider any Gonja as a super Gonja above the others, our humble appeal is, your office should remind all branches of the association to stay off the political arena,� he remarked
Meanwhile, the NPP leadership in Gonjaland has resolved to resist any attempts by any member in the leadership of the Gonjaland Youth Association to drag either the association or any chief into politics.
It argued that Ghana was a unitary state and not a kingdom, and all Ghanaians came together to decide who led this country, irrespective of tribe and Gonjaland was no exception.
When reached on phone, Dr. Braimah confirmed authoring the said petition but indicated that it was to forestall upheavals that might arise as a result of the conduct of some leaders pursuing a clandestine agenda in the group.
All attempts to reach the secretary of the association, Dramani Dari, to ascertain measures they were taking to resolve the matter proved futile as he failed to answer calls put to his cell phone.
Daily Guide however gathered that an emergency executive meeting is scheduled to take place in the next few weeks to find a solution for the issue which is generating anxiety among members of the group in the Northern Region.
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