Dear Hon. Dr. Stephen Amoah,

I write to you with a heavy heart as a Muslim, a Northerner, a woman, and a proud Member of the National Communications Team of our great New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Your recent comment that “Christians hardly want to vote for a Muslim leader. It is a fact…” has left me not only disappointed but deeply wounded. For those of us who come from perceived minority communities whether by religion, region, or gender your words did not merely sting. They struck at the very foundation of what we have fought to prove: that the NPP stands for freedom, opportunity, and unity for all Ghanaians.

That a senior party figure and Member of Parliament would reinforce such a divisive stereotype is not just disheartening it is dangerous.

Honourable, I typically choose to stay focused on my work and avoid internal controversies. But your remark cannot go unchallenged. It felt like watching someone in a moment of midlife confusion commandeer an excavator and drive it straight through a nearly completed house. That “house” is the fragile but vital foundation of unity, trust, and inclusion we have painstakingly built within the NPP brick by brick. To see it threatened by one careless assertion is nothing short of tragic.

I speak not out of anger, but in sorrowful candor. As someone often perceived as not fitting the party’s traditional mold, I have held firmly to the belief that the NPP is evolving. That we are gradually eroding the erroneous notion that one’s surname, faith, or region should determine their ceiling within our tradition. Your comment undermines that belief. It sends a message to young Muslim boys and girls in the South, North, and Zongos that no matter how hard they work, a glass ceiling still looms. That their contributions can be disregarded simply because of how they were born. That is not the NPP I know and it cannot be the NPP we defend.

Your words also touch on a long-standing challenge our party must confront. For decades, the NPP has been branded unfairly, Akan-centric party. This perception has become one of our most persistent electoral vulnerabilities. Our internal assessments acknowledge this. But we do not fix it by validating it. We fix it by proving, in word and deed, that the NPP is a New Patriotic Party for all patriots not just a privileged few.

That is why Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s candidacy meant so much more than personal ambition. His rise gave hope not only to Muslims and Northerners but to every Ghanaian who has ever felt invisible in our political space. He has earned his place through excellence, integrity, and service. His presence at the top of the 2024 ticket was not symbolic it was transformational.

As one of our colleagues aptly put it, Dr. Bawumia gave the NPP a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to debunk the myth that our leadership space is reserved for a particular tribe or religion. His candidacy was the truest expression yet of the Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition one rooted in unity, not tribal or religious silos.

Moreover, your assertion does not hold up, even in your own backyard. In the 2024 elections, you received 35,502 (71.62%) votes in Nhyiaeso as the parliamentary candidate. The NPP’s presidential ticket led by a Muslim secured 35,652 (72.66%) votes. Slightly more than you. If the Christian voters of Nhyiaeso had no issue voting for a Muslim-led ticket, what then becomes of your so-called “fact”?

Let’s be clear: the current President and Vice President are both Christians, and Ghanaian Muslims overwhelmingly accepted them. To suggest that a Ghanaian Christian cannot do the same for a Muslim is not only inaccurate, it is an insult to the discernment and maturity of the Ghanaian voter.

Honourable, Nhyiaeso is a cosmopolitan constituency. It reflects the best of Ghana’s diversity, ethnic, religious, and social. You serve Muslims and Christians, Northerners and Southerners alike. These citizens supported you not because of your faith, but because of your leadership. Why, then, would you imply that they are incapable of rising above religious bias when evaluating leadership?

Both Islam and Christianity preach unity and equality:
“O mankind! We created you from a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes that you may know one another. Verily, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous.” - Qur’an 49:13

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” - Galatians 3:28

Why then, would we as leaders guided by such teachings, choose division over dignity?

I understand that you may have been speaking from what you perceived as political “realism.” But leadership is not about surrendering to the status quo, it is about shaping it. Even in your remarks, you acknowledged that some religious leaders campaigned against a Muslim presidential candidate and that you “disagree with them.” If you recognize such attitudes as wrong, why breathe new life into them by presenting them as inevitable truths?

Honourable, we are on the same team. And yes, you may have preferred another flagbearer, that is your right. But in campaigning for one, we must never diminish another. Whoever leads the NPP into the 2028 general election will need the full support of every region, every religion, every loyal party member. Your comment perhaps unintended, has already been seized upon by those who wish the NPP harm. We must never give them weapons wrapped in our own voices.

I urge you, with humility and conviction, to reflect on your words and to apologize. Not only to Dr. Bawumia, not only to Muslims, but to all who believe that merit, not background, should define a person’s worth in our party and our country. Such an apology will not diminish you. On the contrary, it will elevate you.

The NPP is a family. And families, even in disagreement, move forward through honesty, healing, and love. I know you are a patriot. I believe you can use this moment not to divide us, but to help us grow.

Let this not be the end of a conversation, but the beginning of a renewed resolve to build a party and a nation where no Ghanaian ever feels disqualified by faith, name, or origin.

That is the NPP I believe in. That is the Ghana we must fight for.

Yours sincerely,
Lawuratu Musah-Saaka
Member, National Communications Team
Secretary/Member, Savannah Region Council of Patrons

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