President Akufo-Addo has highlighted a potential historic achievement if his Vice President, Mahamadu Bawumia, secures victory in the 2024 presidential elections.
Akufo-Addo pointed out that a Bawumia presidency would result in Ghana having its first Zongo First Lady, referring to the Muslim-dominated inner-city areas scattered across the country.
During a speech in Nima, a suburb of Accra, Akufo-Addo declared, “If, by the grace of God, Mahamadu Bawumia wins the presidency in December 2024, we will have a Zongo First Lady in Ghana.”
The individual in question is the current Second Lady, Samira Bawumia.
In addition to acknowledging the historic significance of Samira Bawumia’s potential rise to the position of First Lady, Akufo-Addo also spoke about his personal connection with Nima during a speech at the coronation of a new paramount chief for Nima, Mohammed Saini Farl, also known as Nii Futa.
The President, who has a private residence in the Nima enclave, emphasized his ties to the area and recounted spending some of his happiest days as a young person in the Muslim-dominated community.
He expressed the importance of the day, which had been designated as Nima Day by the new paramount chief, coinciding with his mother’s birthday on December 17.
“Nii Futa has chosen this day to be henceforth known as Nima Day, it is a very important day in my life because it is the birthday of my mother, the 17th of December, and she was a big maghajia of Nima as you know.
“I grew up here, I came here when I was 12 years old, our father moved us here. I don’t think there is any part of this area that I don’t know, I know this area like the back of my hand. I enjoyed some of the happiest days of my youth right here in Nima.
“So it is important that I be here on such a day because I am one of you, because I, too, I am a Nima boy,” he stated to applause from the gathering,” Akufo-Addo shared.
Bawumia, elected as the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer on November 4 for the 2024 polls, will face former President John Dramani Mahama in the upcoming elections.
Mahama, making his fourth consecutive bid for the presidency, won his first attempt and lost the second and third to Akufo-Addo.