General News of Monday, 19 February 2024

Source: mynewsgh.com

'I should add president? What the hell!' - Kpebu says Akufo-Addo doesn't merit his title

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo

Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu flared up when Member of Parliament (MP) for Asante Akim North Constituency, Andy Appiah-Kubi, asked him to refer to the President of Ghana as "President Akufo-Addo" and not merely as "Akufo-Addo."

The duo got into a heated tango during Kpebu's submission on TV3's The Keypoints programme on Saturday, February 17, 2024.

Kpebu, who had used the President and Akufo-Addo interchangeably, insisted that he would refer to the president as Akufo-Addo without his title, given that the president was not born with the title.

He added that it is common practice to refer to presidents by only their surnames and that the record of Akufo-Addo does not merit him being called president in the first place.

"He is Akufo-Addo; I am not adding anything. That's how we do it. Was he born with the title? We say Obama all the time, Abraham Lincoln all the time, Bill Clinton all the time.

"Is Akufo-Addo so special? Especially for a man who has lost everything? A man who has pushed press freedom backwards? A man who has declined our economy?… We are in a decline, and you say I should add president? What the hell!" Kpebu, a serial critic of the president, stated.

Kpebu also criticized Akufo-Addo for refusing to sack then-Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta when his own Members of Parliament (MPs) called on him to do so.

He noted that even though he had refused, the fact that his MPs boldly demanded Ken Ofori-Atta's sacking was a fatal blow to his presidency.