The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has mentioned that John Dramani Mahama, the party's flagbearer, will not engage in a presidential debate with Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, stating that it will be a completely worthless exercise.

Asiedu Nketiah clarified that the NDC's decision is based on the principle of not debating someone who they view as lacking credibility; he said this on Joy News' PM Express.

"If you have watched me throughout my political life, there are two people I don’t debate. My guiding principles are two: don't debate an idiot, and don't debate a liar. So, any of these two who tempt me for any debate, I ignore them," myjoyonline.com quoted him to have said.

He further explained that "I am not saying the two must fit one person, but when you look at the two categorisations, you see that he [Dr. Bawumia] is a liar. That is something nobody can contest. I'm not too sure whether he's an idiot, but at least I'm sure he's a liar." 

The National Chairman, popularly referred to as General Mosquito, disclosed his readiness to engage in debates; leadership has advised him against having one with Dr. Bawumia due to his questioned credibility.

"In my capacity as the national chairman, I have made it very clear to our flagbearer that we are not going to engage in a debate with a liar," he said.

The NPP flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, recently invited the NDC's flagbearer to participate in a live presidential debate, suggesting that Mahama is "running away" from the golden chance.

"I am looking forward to a debate with John Mahama on the economy, on the country, and on governance," Bawumia said.

Asiedu Nketiah rubbished the challenge, referencing Bawumia’s unfulfilled promises.

"It has been said by ancient sages that you should never debate a liar because they believe in their lies, so you can't win a debate against a liar. So don't waste your time going into it," he responded.

The chairman attacked Bawumia's current promises as well as his proposal to provide mobile phones to every Ghanaian youth, calling it unrealistic.

He asked, "He’s assuming that all of us are fools. Calculate how long it will take to pay for one mobile phone. When you are born today and you buy a mobile phone, you will grow up and die when you haven't finished paying. Is that the type of person you are going to engage with in a debate?" 

According to Asiedu Nketiah, debating Bawumia would be fruitless because "80% of previous campaign promises never happened regardless of winning political power.

He said, "It tells you that he either assumes that Ghanaians are not intelligent, so you can just tell us anything and you can get away with it. We are not going to be part of that. He should go and debate his own records and what he has said in the past."

In Asiedu Nketiah's closing remarks, he said that Nana Akufo-Addo has a higher credibility than Bawimia; he believes that Bawumia has "messed up his credibility totally."

He used a vivid metaphor to describe the situation: "If you have a pig in mud, don't go and be fighting that pig. It will draw you into the mud, and the two of you will mess yourselves up.

“And when somebody is coming out, he won't know who is the pig and who is the human being. So don't go in; allow him to swim in his own mud." 

RAD/OGB

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