A media personality, Okatakyie Afrifa, has claimed that President Akufo-Addo did not attend Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s “New Chapter” lecture due to displeasure about relinquishing control over the New Patriotic Party (NPP), stemming from his long-standing leadership since 2008.
According to Afrifa, Akufo-Addo had not mentally prepared himself to hand over power as the leader of the country.
“He is not too happy with Bawumia. Even in the NPP primaries that were held, Akufo-Addo didn’t want it to take place because he had not psyched himself to hand over power as the leader of the party [NPP] and the country.
“Since 2008, he has had power over the NPP and all of a sudden he is losing the grip in his hands, so, he is not happy. He was furious when some NPP MPs wanted to partner Dr. Bawumia during the elections. It is not a matter of selling Bawumia but the power he [Akufo-Addo] is losing is a problem for him.”
President Akufo-Addo and several prominent members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) were noticeably absent during Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s first major speech as the party’s flagbearer, which took place in Accra on February 7, 2024.
During his address, Bawumia likened his role in government to that of a “driver’s mate” and pledged to pursue his own vision and priorities if elected president, urging Ghanaians not to judge him based on the current government’s performance.
As of now, President Akufo-Addo has not commented on why he could not attend Dr. Bawumia’s lecture.
Meanwhile, media personality Okatakyie Afrifa has alleged that Bawumia is not given due respect by his superiors in government. Afrifa claimed that President Akufo-Addo often disregards Dr. Bawumia’s suggestions during government deliberations.
According to Afrifa, this lack of respect led to a point where the vice president stopped attending meetings organized by the finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
“When Bawumia makes a suggestion, Akufo-Addo does not listen, take it from me. It even got to a point where the finance minister scheduled for a meeting but he was not attending. They don’t respect him at all,” he said on One Ghana TV.