Odododiodio MP Edwin Nii Lantey Vanderpuye has raised questions about the legacy President Akufo-Addo will leave behind as his tenure comes to an end.
Mr Vanderpuye expressed doubts about the positive image Akufo-Addo was associated with before assuming office, stating that his presidency has brought more harm than good.
According to the lawmaker, President Akufo-Addo’s reputation for incorruptibility and championing human rights, which he was lauded for while in opposition, has been tarnished by his actions in office.
In an interview with Accra-based Citi FM on Tuesday, May 7, Mr Vanderpuye asserted that Akufo-Addo would be remembered as the most corrupt President Ghana has ever had.
He criticised the President for what he sees as a failure to protect the country’s democracy and for the economic challenges that have burdened citizens.
His remarks came in response to President Akufo-Addo’s recent admonition to Ghanaians not to vote for the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, in the upcoming December elections.
President Akufo-Addo suggested that electing Mahama could jeopardize the progress made during his tenure and threaten the nation’s path forward.
Speaking at a mini rally in Doboro in the Greater Accra region, following a visit to Blue Skies Limited, President Akufo-Addo expressed his support for Dr Mahamadu Bawumia as the ideal presidential candidate for the upcoming elections.
“Also, when the time is up for the voting, our job is simple. The person I defeated and my work since I took over, seems not to please him, I cannot hand over power to such a person. He will destroy whatever we have done when he comes.”
“I am pleading with you to vote for the person I have worked with for the past seven and half years. I have faith in him and I know that he will come and continue the work I have begun as Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.”
However, Mr Vanderpuye countered the President’s statements, arguing that Ghanaians are ready for change and are dissatisfied with Akufo-Addo’s leadership.
He emphasised that Akufo-Addo’s presidency has failed to live up to the expectations set during his time in opposition, leading to widespread disappointment among citizens.
“If I were Nana Addo, the best thing I would do as a person is to apologise to the millions of Ghanaians who voted for me and whom I have hugely disappointed. Nana Addo will go into history as the worst president ever in the fourth republic of this country.”
“He is the most corrupt president in our history. He is the one who has collapsed our economy. Ghana’s economy today is worse than at any time in our history. Is that the legacy he is talking about? Of course, John Mahama will come and correct all.”
“The youth of this country are looking for somebody who will come and change that legacy that he has left of joblessness, youth unemployment, hopelessness…So Ghanaians will vote for a change so that somebody will come to erase this horrifying and very disgraceful legacy from our history,” he insisted.
