I Regret All-Die-Be-Die Says Akufo-Addo

Nana  Akufo-Addo with Bola Ray and Kafui Dey at the Starr FM stadios

Presidential Candidate of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has weaned himself off the tag of violence as a result of his infamous 'all die be die' comment.

Even though he had always explained and insisted that the mantra was not a call to violence but for people to stand for their rights, the opposition leader expressed regret over the twist his political opponents had put to it.

This was during a lively and heartwarming interview with Kwabena Anokye Adisi aka Bola Ray on the Starr FM drive time show 'Starr Chat', which lasted one and a half hours on Wednesday evening.

Asked by his host whether he had any regrets about the infamous 'all die be die' and 'yen akan fuo' comments, Nana Addo paused a few seconds and said, 'What I regret is that at the time, I didn't use the occasion to explain what had happened because it's been twisted as if I was saying something tribalistic; or I was saying something warlike and provocative.

'On the contrary, that is not what I was saying. So to that extent, yes I regret the uproar which it caused but I think that even more regretful is the inability to explain what it is that I was saying. So yes, I do regret it,' he said.

On the question of why many perceived him to be an arrogant person, he said 'a lot of that is the workings of my political opponents because after all, image is everything and if you could give bad image to somebody, it's a whole process of giving a dog a bad name and hanging it. I know myself and I knew that I didn't measure to any of what I considered to be a caricature of myself…'

It however seemed the least of his worries because 'I think at the end of the day, a vast majority of Ghanaians have seen through that; they see that it was nothing more than propaganda…they know that it's a caricature, this is not the real me.'

Messy Economy
He however did not fall short of criticising the Mahama-led ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration for their poor handling of the economy.

When asked what he made of the Mahama administration's decision to opt for an IMF bailout, he stated that 'it's unfortunate we have to get there…I think where Kufuor left Ghana in 2009, the economy that had been built in his eight years in office was an economy on the verge of take-off and that if things had been well-managed, we wouldn't find ourselves where we are today.'

He however expressed the hope that managers of the economy would be able to adhere to the discipline that the bailout imposed on the nation in order to get out of the hole created by the Mahama administration.

'I think what this has taught us is that we need people at the helm of our affairs who can manage this economy in a responsible and disciplined manner because that is the basis for future prosperity of our country. Unfortunately, the President and his people have not been able to provide that responsible and disciplined management of our economy,' Nana Akufo-Addo stated.

For him, it was the stubbornness of the Mahama administration that had led the country to what he described as 'this irresponsible path', insisting that 'the IMF programme has come about because of our own errors of judgment and behaviour.

'If we have had a government that was more disciplined, concerned itself more about how the country would position itself for the future and not thinking that there were no limits to which it could borrow, we wouldn't be in the situation we are now,' he emphasised.

Mahama's Score Sheet
He described the ruling NDC's handling of the controversial Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) project as a tragedy, a policy he mooted but which was mocked by President Mahama.

'But I have the satisfaction that every time he mocks an idea of mine, he turns round and embraces it. We were told that free senior high school was also a pie in a sky idea; today it's his big thing…'

The NPP flagbearer was a bit reluctant when asked to grade the performance of President John Dramani Mahama on a score of one to 10, but went on to say, 'I think I'm forced to say this because after all our service is to the people of Ghana and not to individuals and I think that governance under his term has been poor.'

Nana Addo was of the firm conviction that 'we could have done so much better than what we have seen so far under him. To that extent I couldn't give him any positive rating. I wouldn't want to say whether it's two or three or zero, whatever, but I believe that governance under John Mahama has been poor.

'I think governance could have been very much more effective; we have seen our country which at one stage was being touted as 'the new hope of Africa' plunge into economic and political difficulties which were completely avoidable largely because we have not had the direction and the firmness to have leadership on important matters that we should have had.'

He talked about widespread corruption in government and high rate of unemployment in the country.

To be cont'd tomorrow
By Charles Takyi-Boadu