Spencer Wan Blog of Monday, 9 December 2024
Source: Eric Afatsao
In celebration of their overwhelming success in the general elections of 2024, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters have taken down and discarded Nana Akufo-Addo's contentious statue.
The statue was toppled amid jubilant celebrations outside the Effia Nkwanta Hospital in Sekondi, igniting a heated public discussion about its meaning and the deeper grievances it symbolizes.
On November 7, 2024, pictures of the disassembled statue laying vacant on the ground appeared online, eliciting conflicting responses from Ghanaians.
The gesture was interpreted by many NDC supporters as a symbolic rejection of Nana Akufo-Addo's government and its policies, which they said had not adequately addressed the population's daily difficulties.
“A testament to the president’s visionary leadership,” Western Regional Minister Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah said when the statue was first inaugurated in honor of Akufo-Addo’s development projects.
It was criticized long before it was taken down, though, because it was situated outside a hospital with subpar amenities and bordered by bad road construction.
It was seen by many locals as a tone-deaf sign of "self-glorification" that was incompatible with the urgent requirements of the area.
One Sekondi resident said, "This statue was an insult to us." "How can you honor a leader in such a big manner when there aren't enough basic amenities like decent roads and healthcare? The people will receive justice if it is removed.