Bawumia not a problem for NPP but Nana Addo himself - NDC activist

The Deputy Coordinator of Communications for the National Youth Employment Programme [NYEP], Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed has described Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as a political hawk, saying the opposition leader's character is a major problem for the image of his party.

He said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer has no enviable track record and that his partnership with Dr Mahamadu Bawumia will not salvage the party from another defeat at the December polls.

Dr Bawumia was nominated last Wednesday by the NPP flagbearer with the unanimous support of party executives. His candidature is believed to help boost the economy based on his economic acumen.

However, Mr Murtala Mohammed, who was speaking on Newsfile Saturday, stated that Bawumia's value won't increase Nana Addo's chances in the elections because the flagbearer himself is not credible.

According to him, Nana's only track record has to do with demonstrations he led in the past but noted that that was not valuable enough to qualify his as a prospective president. A lot more people, including Kweku Baako Jnr have caused change through similar demonstrations, Murtala said and added that he doubted if Nana Addo had been engaged in more street agitations that Mr Baako.

Again, he said Akufo-Addo did little to develop his constituency as a Member of Parliament and single-handedly stripped ex-president Rawlings off his privileges as a Minister of Justice as well as appending his signature to a court document that contained errors – Tsatsu vrs the President.

Murtala also accused Nana Addo of seizing every opportunity to attack the person of President John Evans Atta Mills.

The abovementioned situations, he said, were the clearest demonstration of Nana Addo being a political hawk and wondered if such a person could be trusted with the destiny of the nation.

Reacting to assertions by Mr Yaw Boabeng Asamoah, a member of the NPP, that Dr Bawumia was an astute economist who has the capacity to turn the fortunes of the country around; Murtala rubbished the claims and pointed out that Bawumia was part of the NPP's team that he claimed messed up Ghana's economy before leaving office in 2008.

He said the NPP's desperation to project the former deputy governor of the Bank of Ghana as a shrewd economist would only make him a laughing stalk.

However Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, added though he [Baako] had been instrumental in various demonstrations but maintained he will be last person to seek to undervalue the efforts of Nana Addo in Ghana's political struggles.