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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has thrown a jab at the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, for his decision not to engage the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, in a presidential debate ahead of the 2024 elections.
Mr. Mahama previously opposed calls for a debate, stating that debating Dr. Bawumia, who is the sitting Vice President, would elevate to his “level” as a former president.
The NDC leader expressed a preference to engage directly with a fellow former president, considering it inappropriate to debate a Vice President on policy matters.
However, during a campaign tour in the Ahafo Region on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, President Akufo-Addo sharply responded, mocking Mr. Mahama’s claim of political seniority.
He questioned the notion of “class” that Mr. Mahama believes he holds over Dr. Bawumia, stating that Bawumia would not debate someone he described as a “one-term president.”
President Akufo-Addo added that the NPP has no intention of allowing its flagbearer to engage the NDC leader in the widely discussed debate.
“Mahama says that he is not ready to debate Bawumia today or tomorrow because Bawumia is not in his class, really? I can’t see the class where Mahama finds himself, which makes it impossible for Bawumia to debate him.
“For me, the only class I know Mahama finds himself in is a class that since we entered the fourth republic in 1993, Ghanaians have crowned five people the presidency as president. One of the five, unfortunately, is the late Prof John Atta Mills. Among the remaining four, we have only one person [Mahama] whom Ghanaians voted him out for performing poorly when in power.
“So, if Mahama claims to have a class, then it is that class of one and he is in that class alone. It is not the class that I would want Dr. Bawumia to join,” the President said.
According to him, if Dr. Bawumia is elected in the upcoming December 7 elections, he would avoid Mahama’s unwanted record and secure a place among second-term presidents.
“God willing, when Bawumia becomes president, he will be retained to continue and join the likes of Rawlings, Kufour myself but for Mahama’s one-term president, that is not what we are seeking for Bawumia,” he stated.
