Akufo-Addo’s statue: He is now powerless as the people whose power he got and abused — Manasseh Azure

Ghanaian investigative journalist and author Manasseh Azure Awuni has waded into former President Akufo-Addo’s declining influence, claiming that he has become powerless, much like the people whose power he once held and allegedly abused.

In a post shared on social media Tuesday, January 14, Azure indicated that the recent events about Akufo-Addo paint a picture of a leader who is not more than the ordinary citizen.

“He is as powerless as the people whose power he got and abused,” Azure wrote.

Manasseh Azure’s remarks come after reports emerged of a statue erected in Akufo-Addo’s honor in Takoradi being vandalized.

The incident symbolically mirrored the fall of tyrants, according to the journalist.

While Akufo-Addo’s supporters once praised his leadership, the journalist pointed out that many of these individuals are no longer publicly defending the former president.

“Yesterday, he would have ordered the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of those who broke the statue,” Manasseh Azure noted. “Like a fierce priest whose spirits desert him, he is as powerless as the people whose power he got and abused.”

‘The President Ghana Never Got’ author’s statement reflected his longstanding criticism of Akufo-Addo, which he first voiced in 2019 in an article titled “If Akufo-Addo had died in 2016.”

In the piece, the acclaimed journalist warned that Akufo-Addo’s presidency had tarnished the once-strong reputation he had built before taking office.

“His presidency, I argued, had ruined the solid reputation he had built for himself,” he wrote, recalling the backlash he faced from Akufo-Addo’s supporters at the time.