Former President John Dramani Mahama has been asked to lift the standard of politics in the country by avoiding statements not deemed fit of an ex-president.
During the NDC’s ‘Unity Walk’ over the weekend at Wa, in the Upper East region, Mr Mahama claimed the “incompetence” of the current Akufo-Addo government was so bad that the president needed the trending “Obinim Sticker" to enable him deliver on his promises.
“The President and his government need an Obinim sticker to deliver on its (sic) promises,” he mocked.
But Mr Mahama has come under fire from a section of the populace who believe his utterances in recent times are unbecoming of a former president who is expected to help elevate the political discourse in the country, as a statesman.
According to the Executive Director of the Danquah Institute, Kingsley Nyarko, the comments from Mr Mahama was distasteful and do not “reflect a Statesman.”
“I think his handlers are doing him a great disservice. If he continues with comments like this, he will be exposing himself to public ridicule all the time,” Dr Nyarko told the Daily Statesman.
According to Dr Nyarko, former President Mahama is not only embarrassing himself through such comments, but also showing “signs of desperation.”
“What President Mahama is doing clearly shows a drowning and desperate man seeking straw to survive in order to be relevant and increase his chances of leading his party in the 2020 presidential contest,” he stressed.
“But, Mr. Mahama you need to elevate the standard of politics in the country; you need to tell the citizenry, what you can do to improve the living standards of the people, and make their lives better should you get the unlikely opportunity you are seeking to lead the country instead of sounding condescending of the President and demeaning your image,” he added.
Dr Nyarko said the former President should be the last person to describe anybody, let alone the high performing, competent, visionary, high flying and highly competent President Akufo-Addo, as incompetent.
“Mr. Mahama should tell us, apart from sinking the economy, performing poorly on all the macroeconomic indicators, making life for the citizenry unbearable, promoting unprecedented corruption in the country, among others, what competent policy he rolled out to soothe our economic pains and challenges? Nothing! Yet, he speaks as if he did anything unique for the country. His handlers are making him look bad and behaving not like a Statesman!” he said.
Meanwhile, a Deputy Minister of Information, Nana Ama Dokua Asiamah-Adjei, also took to his Facebook wall and asked the former President to at least check himself well before describing President Akufo-Addo as incompetent.
Alleging that Mr Mahama benefitted from the 2012 elections malpractices, the Information Minister reminded the former President of his embarrassing role in last year’s Kenya’s elections and recently that of Sierra Leone.
“2018 presidential elections in Sierra Leone, you went as an observer.... once again, most incompetent observer in the history of Africa. An ex-president who can’t monitor elections.... is that one too a president?” she asked.
“After all the trail of embarrassments you brought back to Ghana recently, to remain relevant in Ghana politics, you describe President Akufo Addo today, as though you were talking about your own self. A president who may need an Obinim's sticker is still 100% more competent than an ‘odwan funu.”
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