National Chairman of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Nana Ofori Owusu, has called out Vice President and New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) flagbearer, Dr Bawumia, over his driver-mate remarks.
He disagrees with the notion held by the vice president as a mate other than a co-driver.
“This driver mate thing, Bawumia cannot be a mate; he is a co-driver because the nature of a mate is not neccessarily that of a driver with a licence.
This comes after Dr Bawumia delivered his vision speech as the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the UPSA auditorium on February 7, 2024, where he used the analogy of a mate and a driver, where the mate had limited control over driving; hence, in his position as a vice president.
He expressed how limited his powers and authority over decisions are, hence his desire to become president to be able to run the affairs of the country well.
But the PPP chairman, during an appearance on Kwame Sefa Kaye’s Kookrokoo morning show on Peace FM on February 20, believes this narrative is a ‘dangerous’ one to hold on to.
As stated by Mr. Owusu, a vice president is a co-driver and not a mate. As mandated by the constitution, a vice president is one who is eligible to step in as president in the absence of the president.
“But the nature of a vice president is that you are ready when the president is not there; you are there. That is why the constitution of the land says that when the president is not there, you are there.
You are ready for the possibility. So a mate is not ready but vice president, you are ready.”
Meanwhile, Dr Bawumia has come under severe attacks from the public and the opposition parties, who accused him of distancing himself from the failures of the Akufo-Addo led government and undermining the president’s leadership in order to appear to deceive ordinary Ghanaians into voting for him in the 2024 elections.