'I sabi the thing I go do wey I go help everybody' - Bawumia's reply to Shatta Wale in Pidgin
17th October 2024
Vice President and flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was at his witty best last night when dancehall great Shatta Wale asked him to speak pidgin during an interaction with members of the creative arts.
Dr. Bawumia met with members of the creative arts industry in Accra on October 16, 2024, to explain his policies to them, and during question time, Shatta Wale posed a question, which he asked Dr. Bawumia to respond in pidgin for the sake of those on the streets.
Wale wanted to know what Dr. Bawumia as President, will have for those on the streets.
With many in the hall unsure how Dr. Bawumia, not known for speaking pidgin publicly, would go about it, the Vice President stunned his audience by rattling his response in near-perfect pidgin.
"Wetin you say," Dr. Bawumia begun.
"The thing be say me wey idey politics, the thing wey i dey my heart be the people we dey suffer for the country. Ibi in dey my heart," Dr. Bawumia continued.
He went on with the pidgin and explained that he was also once on the street working as labourer, a cleaner, and a taxi driver so he understood what it takes to struggle.
He also expressed his support and compassion for the less privileged, pointing to how he is the patron of the leper's council, as well as a patron of the Mother Theresa Soup Kitchen, which offers support to less privileged people on the street.