Veteran journalist Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has asserted that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is only succeeding in harming the presidential ambition of his vice president, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, with his recent remarks on Ghana’s first president.

He indicated that the president’s utterances on Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah make it seem he is bent on ruining the presidential ambition of Dr. Bawumia, the flagbearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).

“It looks like someone has intentionally decided to harm Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s campaign. The president is no mean person and he is intentionally and consciously being divisive. He is saying things that, if care is not taken, would affect his own political party,” he said in Twi in an interview on Peace FM on August 6, 2024.

He added that the president is not the only person harming Dr. Bawumia’s presidential ambition but other leading members of the NPP, including former Speaker of Parliament Prof. Aaron Mike Ocquaye, are also doing the same.

“And he (Akufo-Addo) is not the only person who has said these things, Prof. Mike Ocquaye is even saying worse things against Nkrumah.”

Pratt Jnr. made these remarks while reacting to President Akufo-Addo saying that he would not accept the notion held by some Ghanaians that Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah is the sole founder of the country.

In his speech ahead of the commemoration of Founders' Day on August 4, 2024, President Akufo-Addo said that while Kwame Nkrumah played an integral role in the country’s drive towards independence, it is erroneous and untenable to accord him the privilege of being the founder of Ghana.

“I speak to you this evening, rejecting completely the notion that Ghana was founded by one man. While Kwame Nkrumah’s contributions to our independence are undeniable, it is important to acknowledge that the struggle for our nation’s freedom was a collective effort spanning several generations,” the President said in his broadcast.

President Akufo-Addo enumerated some people whom he believes were integral in the fight towards independence and deserve to be celebrated alongside Kwame Nkrumah.

“The formation of the Aborigines Rights Protection Society, the British West African National Congress, the United Gold Coast Convention, the work of countless unsung heroes, and the tenacious spirit of our people all played vital parts in bringing us to freedom and independence.

“Kwame Nkrumah, with his charismatic and visionary leadership, was undoubtedly a major actor in the final lap of our journey to independence. That is why, despite the several unfortunate things that happened after independence under his watch, Parliament in 2019 decided to memorialise his date of birth as Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day, the only Ghanaian so far to be so honoured in our history.”

Watch his remarks in the video below.



BAI/NOQ