Akufo-Addo: I chose Bawumia because he is clever and honest

President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that he chose Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as his vice-presidential running mate in all four (4) elections he has contested in the country because he is clever and honest.

The President made this disclosure when he answered a question posed by Adwoa Boadiwaa, a pupil of the Association International School, when together with other pupils and teachers of the school, they paid a courtesy call on him at the seat of the country’s presidency, Jubilee House, today, Thursday 26 October 2023.

Bawumia

I want to know why out of all the people in Ghana, he chose Bawumia as your vice president. Adwoa, a pupil of the Association International School asked President Akufo-Addo during question-and-answer time during the President’s interaction with the pupils.

“Of all the people, why did I choose Bawumia as the Vice President, my goodness, that is a lot of questions. But em…. I think you are aware [that] in terms of the balance, people from the south, people from the north… I think that for the unity of the country, it is good that we have a leadership where Northerners and Southerners are together so that the country can remain united.

“He [Dr Mahamudu Bawumia] is from the North and I wanted somebody from the North to partner me for the election and then for the governance. He [Dr Mahamudu Bawumia] is also a clever man and I needed his brains to help me govern the country effectively” President Akufo-Addo said in answer to Adwoa’s question.

“He [Dr Mahamudu Bawumia] is an honest person. He speaks honestly to you. He is not one of those people who you have to guess what they are trying to say, he says what he has to say directly and I like that. I prefer to deal with people who are very direct in what they say. These are some of the reasons why I chose Dr Bawumia to be my vice president” Akufo-Addo added.

Criticism

In his interaction with the pupils, President Akufo-Addo was also asked how he keeps calm when people criticize his actions. In his answer, President Akufo-Addo said criticism is part of the system of government that he has always wanted for the country.

“A country where ministers, people in authority, the president, whoever you are, can be criticized. There was a time in Ghana when it wasn’t like that when one man spoke, that was that. I have never liked that kind of situation because I don’t believe that [there should be a situation] where one man knows everything.

“It is better to have a system where lots of ideas and lots of brains are brought forward to work with, so that is the first thing. I approve of a system whereby people can criticize the President. When that happens, it will look strange when I get agitated when people start criticizing me. I am not God, I cannot be, none of us are, but we do our best” President Akufo-Addo noted.

“Criticism is good, it helps you to see things that you may not be seeing and it opens up different perspectives. A lot of times, you can disagree with your critics, but sometimes, there is something in the criticism that is of use and of benefit that [you can use to do something useful].

“That is the reason why I don’t get agitated when people criticize me, I think it is their right to do so just as much as I think it is my right to ignore their criticism if I think there is no substance in it” President Akufo-Addo further stated.

Akufo-Addo – Bawumia ticket

President Akufo-Addo first chose Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia as his running mate on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), for the December 2008 presidential elections. He maintained him for the December 2012 elections. In both polls, they lost the election narrowly to John Evans Atta Mills (2008) and John Dramani Mahama (2012)

In 2016 and again in 2020, President Akufo-Addo and his running mate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia won both elections and the two have worked together as President and Vice President the last six years and 10 months.

Currently, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, is contesting three other aspirants in the upcoming NPP internal presidential primaries which comes off on Saturday 4 November 2023, for the flagbearership slot of the NPP ahead of the December 2024 general elections.

Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has been projected by several independent polls to win the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP’s) flagbearership race by up to 78% of the valid votes expected to be cast by the over 200,000 delegates who will be participating in the constituency based polls.

Source: Asaase Radio