Former President, John Dramani Mahama, has accused President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of engaging in self-glorification by erecting a statue of himself.
The former president and presidential candidate of the opposition NDC said the decision by President Akufo-Addo to erect a bust in his honour whilst still a president smacks of conceit and disrespect for the Ghanaian voter.
President Akufo-Addo on November 6, 2024 commissioned the statue of himself at the Afia Nkwanta hospital roundabout as part of his ‘Thank You Tour’ of the Western region as he prepares to step down on January 6 having served his two constitutionally allowed terms.
The statue has since drawn public attention and sparked debate on both traditional and social media platforms.
Addressing a rally at Adjoafua in the Bia West Constituency on his just ended campaign of the Western North region on Thursday, former President Mahama stated that President Akufo-Addo should allow the people honour him.
“It is unthinkable that a sitting president will erect and unveil a statue of himself whilst still in office. This smacks of self – glorification.
“He must leave the praise for himself to the people. If he thinks he has done enough to deserve a recognition, let the people decide and that is what we call posterity,” he stated in the Twi language.
It is laughable, the NDC candidate stressed that the project site where the statue was erected was not completed.
Former president Mahama further noted that if he were to erect statues against projects he supervised in his previous administration, his busts would be all over the country.
“If I were to mount statues in my honour, there would have been one at Tema Habour, one at the terminal three of the Kotoka International Airport, one at the University of Ghana Medical Centre, one at the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange, one at Kasoa interchange, and one at Kejetia market and across the country,” he counted to the chants of the gathering,” he noted.
In his view, leadership must be about service to the people and not an opportunity to glorify oneself as he entreated the electorate to choose servant leadership over pride on December 7.
At an earlier mini rally at Adabokrom in the Bia East constituency, former president Mahama assured that the road from Debiso to Adabokron which was started by his previous government but abandoned since the NPP took over would be revisited.
At Nkatieso in the Juaboso constitution, Nana Ofori Ahenkara, the Kontihene of Sefwi Wiawso Traditional Area, welcomed John Mahama’s proposed 24-hour economy policy and urged him to use same to create meaningful jobs for the youth of the area and the country as a whole.
On his part, the former president said a cocoa processing factory would be established in the region to complement the region as the highest cultivator of cocoa in the country.
The campaign also took the former president to Asawinso and Sefwi Bekwai in the Sefwi Wiawso and Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai constituencies where he’s been preaching his message for change.
He has been telling voters that the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government’s delivery falls short of their promises and should be kicked out of office at the polls.
To the former president, a vote for Dr Bawumia, the NPP’s candidate in the upcoming election, would be an endorsement of the mismanagement of the economy and a third term in disguise for President Akufo-Addo.
The former president, meanwhile, commences a five-day campaign of the Eastern Region today.
FROM JULIUS YAO
PETETSI, SEFWI WIAWSO