4 controversial statements of Akufo-Addo that shocked Ghanaians

The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa, Akufo-Addo, is currently in the Ashanti Region as part of a tour of the region. According to communication that was made public ahead of his four-day tour that started on Sunday, October 16, 2022, the president is expected to commission projects, inspect ongoing ones, and confer with traditional leaders of the area. On Sunday, 16th October, President Akufo-Addo visited the Manhyia Palace to interact with the Asantehene and Asantehemaa. As part of his itinerary, the president was also supposed to honour a number of radio appointments in the region. Having already done three days of his tour, there have been a number of concerns raised by some Ghanaians over how the president’s activities in the region have gone so far. Among those are a number of utterances the president has made in either his addresses at some of his scheduled engagements, and then others he made during his radio interviews. In an earlier interview, the president also courted the disaffection of Ghanaians over some statements he made. Below are some of the things Ghanaians wished President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo should not have said, or, could have said better: I am not afraid to be voted against During an interview on OTEC Fm in Kumasi, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo made a comment that got many people literally in stitches. In the interview, the president stated that he is not moved by threats of electoral consequences by some supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). He explained that he knows that people will vote for their preferred candidates in an election and that voters can also not be forced to make choices in a democratic dispensation, hence there was no need to threaten a government with votes. The president was responding to concerns raised by people in Manso and Kwabre, who had threatened to vote out the NPP in 2024 if their roads are not fixed. Their concerns were conveyed by the journalist who conducted the interview on OTEC FM. “The people of Kwabre and Manso, we know they voted massively for Nana, they have asked me to inform the president that if their roads are not fixed, they will be pained and in 2024, they will vote against the NPP,” the journalist asked after the Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Attah, had responded to a question. “No problem, no problem. I am saying people make those kinds of threats, me, they don’t frighten me. Somebody votes for you, somebody supports you, it is because they want you to do things for them, so I understand that,” the president quickly weighed in with a response. I will shame you all Still in the Ashanti Region for his tour, the president took an opportunity while making an address to send a statement to persons he believes are his political detractors in the region. According to him, these people will be shamed one by one by the numerous work he has done for the people of the region, which is considered the 'political world bank' of the governing party; the NPP. President Akufo-Addo stated that for the past six years that he has been in office, the people of the Ashanti Region have benefitted enough from his government, therefore, his detractors cannot say otherwise. "And to those of you going around saying bad things about me in the Ashanti Region, one after the other, they are all going to be shamed convincingly, today, tomorrow and the day after. “In spite of our present difficulties which I know will be gone as soon as possible, I continue to be excited about the future prospects of the nation and I urge all Ghanaians to join hands in building the Ghana that we want, we can realize it if we all work at it,” he said. The president was speaking during a sod-cutting ceremony for the Suame Interchange, on October 18, 2022. You can vote for NDC While still speaking in his interview on OTEC Fm in Kumasi, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo made another comment about how unfazed he is about his party losing the next general elections. He explained that while there are threats to vote against them, he is unmoved, adding that intimidations of voting against the NPP due to unfulfilled promises or lack of development under his tenure, is a personal decision he cannot be bothered about. “People make those kinds of threats; they don’t frighten me. Somebody votes for you, and somebody supports you. It’s because they want you to do certain things for them. I understand that. But there is no need for people to say that if I am unable to do this and that… those are their own issues to deal with. Of course, I will do it (the road). “But if it comes to the election and you choose to vote for the NDC, that is your own issue that is not my worry because nobody holds your thumb to vote; it is your own work. The important thing is that I understand my responsibility, and we will deal with it,” the president said. I'm not so sure if Aisha Huang was deported In September, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo granted an interview to Stone City Radio in Ho during his tour of the Volta Region. During the interactions, he made a statement about the case of the embattled Chinese galamsey ‘kingpin,’ Aisha Huang (En Huang). The statement came under a lot of public scrutiny because it was determined to have contradicted what some of his appointees had said on the same subject, to the effect that Aisha Huang had actually been deported from Ghana in 2018. But speaking in that interview, President Akufo-Addo said it is likely that the 'galamsey' queen may not have been deported, but rather fled the country in 2018. "… I am not still sure whether she was, in fact, deported or whether she fled the country the first time and has now come back or whatever. There still seems to be some uncertainty about it. "Whichever way it is, she has become a sort of nickname for all that the 'galamsey' represents and also, unfortunately, for the involvement of Chinese nationals in this illicit trade," he said. Watch the latest episode of The Lowdown below: You can also watch this episode of People & Places on GhanaWeb TV: AE/WA