A former Northern Regional Minister, Abdallah Abubakari, has disclosed the ridicule he faced from his community for continuing to drive an old car after leaving office.
In a recent interview circulating on social media, he shed light on the societal pressures and expectations placed on public officials in Ghana.
Abubakari recounted his experiences post his brief tenure as a minister, which lasted less than nine months.
He mentioned that following the 2016 elections, after the NDC lost power, he resumed driving his Toyota Highlander, a 2005 model he had purchased while serving as Programmes Manager at IBIS.
“I had the opportunity to serve as a minister for less than nine months. After the 2016 election, I went and picked up my Highlander, which I bought when I was the programmes manager at IBIS. I was the programmes director when I bought the Highlander 2005 model.
“When I left the office and drove it to Walewale several times, people started laughing at me.
“They wanted to point out how useless I had been, but my uselessness was not based on my failure to deliver my mandate as a minister.
“Rather, my failure, as they saw it, was as a regional minister: How come you don’t have a brand-new Porsh V8 with a potbelly that shines out of corruption?’ That is the lens through which people judge achievements in Ghana. And that is why we have a problem,” he lamented.