Two Mistakes That Have Given Nana Akufo Addo International Recognition

Nana Akufo Addo - Photo credit: Ghana media

When it comes to the acknowledgment of the most famous Ghanaian leader, Kwame Nkrumah is the name everyone knows worldwide. His achievements as a political leader, for both Ghana and entire African nation, were exceptional, giving him global fame no one can erase from the political history of Ghana.

However, recognition for an African leader is not all the time based on achievements but sometimes on mistakes or cruel things the leaders do. For example, John Jerry Rawlings is known worldwide, the fact that he executed eight senior army officers he perceived to be corrupt. Yes, that's what has crafted Rawlings' name in Ghana's political history.

Even though, Nana Akufo Addo, the present Ghanaian leader, hasn’t been in power for too long, I can assure you that he is now one of the famous Ghanaian leaders known worldwide, the fact that he is the first African leader to appoint 110-minister government, calling it a "necessary investment" in Ghana.

I wonder if Nana Akufo Addo knows about the commotion he caused around the world, after the appointment of the 110 ministers. The news went viral, appearing in American, Spanish, Italian, Belgium etc, newspapers. Almost every newspaper in the world published about Nana Akufo Addo and some even suggested that the ‘elephant size’ government should enter into the Guinness Book of Records.

In another development, shortly after the Ghanaian leader, Nana Akufo Addo gave his inauguration speech, the foreign media and world leaders discovered that sections of his speech were taken from the speeches by former US presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton.

This was one of the biggest embarrassments not to Ghana specifically but to the entire African nation, confirming and supporting the derogatory-dirty talks against Africa that the continent can’t do anything better on its own than seeking for international assistance despite how rich Africa is.

It was after the plagiarism row, the office of Nana Akufo-Addo issued an apology for lifting passages from speeches by Bill Clinton and George W Bush during his inaugural address to the nation. This embarrassment could have been avoided because there are great minds in Ghana who could have written something better for Nana Akufo Addo.

This mistake Nana Akufo Addo did becomes international headlines worldwide. African leaders have disgraced and embarrassed Africans in many ways. Despite the qualified hard working doctors in Africa, almost all the African leaders seek medical treatment overseas, throwing dust of disrespect on African doctors.

How can Africa be respected as a valuable continent? It’s really sad to have such leaders who aren’t even strong enough to speak against crimes committed in Africa by foreign powers. However, it worth to ask: what lessons do African leaders learn after making such embarrassing and serious mistakes?

Ghanaians and the international community may be thrown into another confusion very soon if Nana Akufo Addo attempts to build a Cathedral when Ghana’s tourism industry is collapsing due to the stinky environments and poor disposal of waste and sewage facilities in the country.