Vice President of IMANi Kofi Bentil has revealed that aside from receiving backlash for endorsing the Vice President, he has also received a series of threats.
He said his life and businesses have come under threats following his endorsement of 2024 NPP flagbearer Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
While he noted that the development is unfortunate, he said he is unperturbed about the situation and will continue to support Dr Bawumia regardless.
He made the disclosure on Saturday, February 10, on the Joy News channel.
“I have had a very interesting week and I was forced to put it on my Facebook page.
“People were meeting on attacking me and there were efforts afoot. You hear a lot of these things and I am not saying this is NDC, but there are all kinds of surrogates and people who feel upset about it.
“I don’t have a problem with debate and discourse no matter how vigorous. I block a lot of people on Facebook but I do that only when you insult me. But if you want to debate me, fine…people are planning to attack me with people saying when NDC comes into office, they will collapse my business.”
The private legal practitioner said he is aware there is a serious price to pay for coming out to endorse the Vice President.
Every man deserves a fair hearing
In a Facebook post, Mr Bentil called on Ghanaians to grant Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia a fair and objective hearing.
Mr Bentil believes that Dr Bawumia, who has never been president, deserves the opportunity to showcase his capabilities.
Drawing a parallel with former President John Mahama, Bentil emphasised the importance of fairness in evaluating both candidates.
The policy analyst was taken to the gutters by several persons, especially those in the NDC camp calling him out as a conflicted person.
People like the NDC National Communication Officer Sammy Gyamfi said “For your information, Ghanaians gave Bawumia ample hearing in 2016 when he held countless lectures and fora to propound lofty but deceptive economic rhetoric.”
“Need I remind you, that at a time when Bawumia as chairman of the Economic Management Team, has supervised the total destruction of the economy, what is required of him, is ACTION and not lectures? This is trite and you of all people should know that.”
But Mr Bentil said he is unperturbed.
He clarified that he was only presenting what he believed were facts about Dr Mahamudu Bawumia before his address to Ghanaians.
According to him, the facts he presented about Dr. Bawumia are verifiable.
Mr Bentil emphasised the importance of putting out facts and stated that convincing people is a different matter.
His comments come in response to a statement he made about Dr Bawumia ahead of his address to the nation on Wednesday, February 7, endorsing him as the best Vice President ever and highlighting his non-corrupt nature and effectiveness in delivering crucial transformations.
Despite disagreements from some individuals, Mr. Bentil clarified “I just hoped to put out what I believed are facts” about the Vice President.
He further explained that he is endorsing the NPP flagbearer because he is a better option than John Mahama who is a former President and flagbearer of the NDC.
Kofi’ s basic flaw is he says Bawumiah has only been Vice President as has Mahama too been but never as President as Mahamah has been. On which premise then does he say Bawumiah is better than Mahamsh? As Vice President? But Bawumiah has been Vice for eight years and Mahamah as vice for only four years. It therefore is not fair to compare the two at all