The attention of the Northern Caucus of the NPP has been drawn to deeply offensive and regrettable comment made by the Hon. Linda Ocloo, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, suggesting that public officials who approve illegal building permits should be “transferred to the North” as a form of punishment.

Let us be unequivocal: this statement is not only insulting to every hardworking public servant in the north, but it is a direct assault on the dignity of an entire people who have contributed immensely to the stability, development, and democratic credentials of this nation. These comments are not a slip of the tongue. They are a window into a rotten, elitist, and deeply offensive mindset.

It is with a heavy heart and profound sadness that we also speak as representatives of a marginalised group – women – to express our deep disappointment that this statement comes from a female leader. In a nation where women have fought tirelessly against marginalisation, stereotyping, and belittlement, it is heartbreaking to see a woman in power turn around and weaponized the same tools of prejudice against an entire region. To mock and marginalise others while belonging to a group that has historically cried out against marginalisation is a contradiction that cuts deep. It is a betrayal of the solidarity we ought to share as Ghanaians who know what it means to be overlooked.

To equate service in the North with penal servitude is to reveal a colonial mindset that has no place in Ghana of 2026. In the minister’s view, the north is Siberia, a barren exile fit only for those who have fallen out of favour. In her mind, it appears, to be sent to the north is to be sent to a punishment post – as if the people of the north are themselves a sentence to be endured, rather than citizens to be served. This is not only factually wrong; it is malicious, elitist, and frankly, shameful.

The very President who appointed her is a proud son of the north. The Speaker of Parliament of Ghana, the number three gentleman of this land, is from the north. Some of the most meaningful, capable, and loyal public servants serving in this country and this very government are northerners.

And yet, a Regional Minister, someone who swore an oath to serve all Ghanaians, dares to weaponized the north as a symbol of exile and suffering?

Let it be recorded that her comments stand in direct conflict with Section 1.2(e) of the President’s own Code of Conduct announced just last year, which requires the minister to comport herself in a manner befitting of first and confidence. Her comment is also a direct assault on the whole of Your Ref…

Section 1.3 of the same President’s Code of Conduct, which requires civility, courtesy, and restraint of the minister. The whole Code expressly forbids public officials from making divisive, demeaning, or regionalist statements. If the President’s own appointee cannot abide by his fundamental ethical guidelines, what moral authority does this government have to demand discipline from anyone else?

We are saddened to say that this statement reveals a deep lack of sensitivity to the actual plight of the north – a region that has faced genuine challenges in healthcare, education, and infrastructure for decades. Instead of empathy or solidarity, she offers mockery. One is left to wonder: has she ever truly visited the north? Has she walked its markets, sat with its elders, or listened to the aspirations of its youth? Because no person who has done so could ever speak of that land as a punishment.

Worse still, there is a bitter irony here that cannot be ignored: the very political party she represents has, for years, taken the north for granted, knowing that the region’s loyal voters will stand with the NDC through thick and thin. And what is the thanks? Contempt. Insults. And now, the suggestion that these voters’ home is a place of exile. That is not just poor politics; it is a moral failure of the highest order.

And let us be clear: this is not the first time a public official has crossed this red line. In 2017, a former Deputy Minister for Agriculture under the previous administration, Mr. William Quaittoo, resigned after making strikingly similar comments about the north.

So here is my question to President Mahama: if a minister in the Akufo-Addo government lost his job for disparaging the north, why should a minister in your own government – Linda Ocloo – keep hers for turning the entire region into a synonym for punishment and exile? Is the north now to be insulted only when it is done by NPP officials, but tolerated when uttered by an NDC appointee? That double standard is worse than the original insult. It is a betrayal of every northerner who bled for the NDC party.

The northern region has produced some of the finest professionals, patriots, and loyal supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Our people have stood firmly with the NDC not because they expect favours, but because they believe in justice, equity, and a Ghana where no zone is treated as a dumping ground. Ref::

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For a minister of her stature to suggest that working in the north is a punishment, in this era of progress and development, is incomprehensible. It betrays a deep-seated contempt for the very citizens she is sworn to serve. Let her remember: the north is not a detention centre. It is the

breadbasket of this country, a land of opportunity, and home to millions of proud Ghanaians who deserve respect, not ridicule.

Moreover, her comments stand in direct opposition to the principles of the United Nations Charter

– specifically Article 1, which calls for respect for human rights and for the dignity and worth of every human person without distinction as to region or status. To demean an entire geographical population is to spit on the founding documents of modern international governance.

This statement is entirely unacceptable, unforgivable, and regrettable. And let me be clear: we are way past apologies. An apology will not suffice. It will not undo the image she has projected – that in her eyes, northerners are not fellow citizens, but a form of punishment sent to the country called Ghana.

If the minister genuinely believes that serving in the north is a punishment, then the only person who should be transferred is her – out of public office and into a compulsory course on Ghanaian geography, culture, and common decency.

Therefore, we are not merely calling for an apology. We are calling for her immediate and honorable resignation. She owes the north that much. And if she lacks the decency to resign, then the President must sack her with immediate effect. Any leader who holds an entire region of this country in such contempt has no moral or ethical right to continue exercising public authority over the very people she looks down on.

We await the President’s. The north is watching. Ghana is watching. And history will not be kind to those who turn marginalisation into a political tool.

Signed: