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Opinions of Tuesday, 30 August 2016

Columnist: Jackson, Margaret

Who the heck is Nana Akufo-Addo?

Nana Akufo-Addo Nana Akufo-Addo

Margaret Jackson

To the so-called “King” Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the careworn flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), he has every right under the sun to label our sitting and hardworking President John Mahama, incompetent. In fact, Akufo-Addo even goes beyond that by saying, President Mahama is clueless. The last time I checked, Nana Akufo-Addo who is incapable of holding the centre of the NPP together was saying President Mahama is visionless.

But after spewing all these nonsense about President Mahama, Akufo-Addo wants the former to simply sit back without saying anything in return. Akufo-Addo who cannot take a political punch in return does not see why President Mahama will go out of his way during his campaign tour to tell Ghanaians who exactly he is.

That is why Akufo-Addo and his cohorts are so mad that President Mahama who has begun his re-election campaign told voters that he Nana Akufo-Addo is indeed a divisive person and a dictator. Who in Ghana does not know that nobody dares criticise Akufo-Addo’s campaign style. Who in the NPP is ignorant that Akufo-Addo wants to be worshipped daily instead of brainstorming and jaw jawing with his party leaders?

Nana Akufo-Addo claims President Mahama is incompetent. But to me charity begins at home. If Akufo-Addo sits down unconcerned for the acting NPP Chairman Freddie Blay and Treasurer Kwabena Abankwa Yeboah to open an Ecobank Account at the blindside of the suspended Chairman Paul Afoko and General Secretary, Kwabena Agyepong, and claims he is competent and the right man to move Ghana forward, let the voters decide.

Akufo-Addo is on record for doing nothing or saying anything about any negative issue that pops up concerning his daily worshippers. If this behaviour about Akufo-Addo is, what we call competence then the meaning of the word “competence” is grossly misplaced. Akufo-Addo has systematically silenced all critics within the NPP largely through dismissals and suspensions.

We can talk about Kwame Pianim, Dr Wereko-Brobbey, Dr Nyaho Tamakloe, Paul Afoko, Sammy Crabbe, Kwabena Agyepong, Dr Kobina Atta Kennedy and many constituency chairmen and organizers of the NPP who have all been pushed out of the NPP by the highly incompetent and clueless Akufo-Addo who goes about on the campaign tour in the North promising dams where there are no streams.

Yet when President Mahama calls a spade a spade by telling Ghanaians that we do not need a dictator and a divisive person to rule Ghana, Akufo-Addo and his cohorts go ballistic and ran to the Christian Council of Ghana to call President Mahama to order.

Is the Christian Council not in Ghana when Akufo-Addo on each campaign trail labels President Mahama incompetent? So why should the Christian Council call President Mahama to order and allow Akufo-Addo to continue to bad-mouth President Mahama?

If Akufo-Addo running to the Christian Council is not dictatorial enough let Ghanaians say it. Ghana is a serious country, which must never be toyed with by anybody who is simply looking to colour his curriculum vitae and get a state burial. Akufo-Addo does not know how to run a party.

In fact, he does not know why he is even running for the highest office of the land. And I dare say Akufo-Addo is not a smart politician who can bring dissenting people together. And if we have such a dangerous character like Akufo-Addo, running for President this must send a chilling effect in the spine of Ghanaians.

What do you think will happen to Ghanaians who will dare criticise Akufo-Addo if he ever becomes President of our Beloved Ghana? Even in opposition, Akufo-Addo does not tolerate dissenting views. So what do you think will happen if God forbid such an incompetent divisive dictator becomes the Commander-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces?

Already Akufo-Addo is saying he is going to appoint a Special Prosecutor when he wins the 2016 Election. Fair deal! But Let Akufo-Addo first appoints a Special Prosecutor to investigate the finances of the NPP to determine how millions of dollars and cedis that have been donated to his campaigns since 2006 have been misapplied.

Ghanaians will love to know how for instance Gabby Otchere-Darko, who happens to be the cousin of Nana Akufo-Addo and has never done any straight job both in Ghana and the United Kingdom is living comfortably in a huge mansion at the Trasacco Estate in Accra. Where did Otchere-Darko get the money to buy that property?

Ghanaians will equally want to know how competent Akufo-Addo is to manage the finances of the country by first bringing to book anybody whether his relative or friend who may have misapplied any finances of the NPP.

If Akufo-Addo crosses that threshold, then he can confidently come and tell Ghanaians that he has what it takes to clean Ghana of the “illusive mess” he is assuming. Akufo-Addo must first remove the speck in his own eyes before talking about the log in somebody’s.

Akufo-Addo has the same similarities of the US Republican Presidential Candidate, Donald Trump, who acts on his gut feelings during campaign stops. He just promises the moon when even he sees the moon shining.

Indeed President Mahama has shown what he can do if given another four years by getting re-elected. Ghanaians are not ready to taste the unchartered muddy waters, which Akufo-Addo claims he will bring to the table. This man simply does not know how to bring cohesion in the country.

And I am afraid for the Christian community and especially Pastors who have lined up behind Akufo-Addo. If such a divisive character like Akufo-Addo is courting for their votes, they must be very careful. Akufo-Addo will simply go the other way after getting their votes.

Akufo-Addo never keeps his promises. He does not have permanent friends. Ex-President JA Kufuor will be the best person to tell you who the heck Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is.

Writer's e-mail: [email protected]