Stop Demanding For Bawumia's Health Report; It Is Callous

Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has described as insensitive calls by some members of the Minority for a full disclosure on the Vice President’s health status.

Nana Obiri Boahen said he disagrees with such calls advising the Minority to be more “humane” and show compassion for Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

“Courtesy and good manners demand that if somebody is ill we wish them well for a healthy recovery,” he told Joy News.

He is appalled that the Minority is not praying for a speedy recovery for the Vice president and are not even demanding of government to provide him the deserved medical attention.

Nana Boahen was reacting to some members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in parliament who are calling for a full disclosure of the ailment that has forced Dr Bawumia to seek medical leave in the UK.

Information Minister Mustapha Hamid
Mustapha Hamid said the Veep will have the peace and tranquillity to recover faster, an advantage he claimed he will struggle to get in Ghana.

But in an interview with Joy News, Clement Apaak questioned why the NPP is unhappy with their demands when it was the government that announced that he was unwell.

“If you told us that he wasn’t well, is it not logical that we ask for why and what is wrong with him? How can we get that without a full disclosure?” he quizzed.

The Builsa South MP said although they have wished him well and prayed for a speedy recovery, they still have the right to demand from the government what is wrong with him.

Builsa South MP, Clement Apaak
Regarding what the Minority needs that information for, Mr Apaak said their constituents are asking to know what is wrong with the Veep.

“If they hadn’t announced publicly to the nation and world that he had been taken ill, I surely don’t think there would have been the need for people to know what is exactly wrong with him,” he said.

When he was reminded of a similar stance taken by the NDC government during the era of the late president John Evans Mills, Mr Apaak said the NDC never publicly announced it.

The NDC government failed to announce the details of the health status of the late president John Mills when he was ill. Even the cause of death still remains a state secret.

But in a rebuttal, Apaak said: “They chose to do [announce] it and put it into writing so we are only doing what is right by conveying demands from our constituents.

“If you want to do the right thing, just go the long haul…what they have done is actually to raise more questions than to provide answers,” he said.

But Nana Obiri Boahen said irrespective of what is contained in or how the press statement was written, people should wish Dr Bawumia well and end it at that.