‘Old man’ Akufo-Addo is now a liability for his own party – Prof. Gyampo jabs
President Nana Akufo-Addo has come under fire from Professor Ransford Edward Van Gyampo, a Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, who claims that the former’s presence and actions put the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at a disadvantage.
The outspoken political analyst claims that some statements the president make continue to make have a significant impact on the party, particularly during elections.
Prof. Gyampo’s comments come on the back of a recent “prejudicial” statement made by President Akufo-Addo during a campaign rally in Assin North.
The President during the campaign of the NPP in Assin North, admonished the constituents not to vote for Mr. Gyakye Quayson, the National Democratic Congress (NDC’S) candidate, whom he said was likely to be a jailbird.
But, Prof. Gyampo when speaking on TV3’s weekend news analysis show, The KeyPoins, claimed that President Akufo-Addo’s comment was prejudiced.
Being a constitutional lawyer himself, he claimed Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo should have realized that making such remarks compromises the independence of the judiciary in the country.
Prof. Gyampo emphasized that among the numerous factors that affected the NPP’s defeat in Assin North, the President’s disparaging comments cannot be ignored.
“The President has no business making those comments. He is reputed to be one of Ghana’s finest constitutional lawyers, and I was thinking that somebody who knows the constitution like that, how come he didn’t know that such a matter is subjudice, you don’t make such comments,” he berated.
“Who told the President that Gyakye Quayson is on his way to jail? Is he having a private conversation with the judges? Is he not unnecessarily putting pressure on the judges? Haven’t we as a nation bastardise judicial service enough? Don’t we want to move beyond that?” He questioned.
“I mean he he’s led his life, he’s retired, he’s an old man, he’ll retire, he may not even live in Ghana but those of us who are young will live here, this is all that we have, and so we plead with him, that he should be circumspect with some of these utterances that, in my view, undermine judicial independence,” he cautioned.
He jabbed, “It appears he is a liability even for his party. The kinds of comment that he made, who asked him to even go to Assin North? Because these comments also infuriated the constituents.”
Source: Ghanaguardian.com
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Prof. Has said it all