Concerns have been raised by former president John Mahama regarding comments made about a few of Ghana’s former leaders of state by Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the running mate for the NPP.
At a meeting in the Adaklu Constituency, Mahama called Prempeh’s depiction of the late President Atta-Mills as “that one who died,” calling it “disrespectful and insulting.”
“That one who died,” he added after saying Rawlings and Kufuor. Somehow, he even missed Professor Mills’s name. How in the world can you speak like this? Very insulting and disrespectful. Arrogance is similar to pregnancy. Anything you do will be revealed,” he said.
Mahama added that Prempeh still makes “disrespectful” remarks about former presidents, such as Kwame Nkrumah, in spite of the Asantehene’s advice to be humble.
“The NPP running mate, when they went and presented him to Otumfuo. Otumfuo remarked, “We raised you because you are a member of the Manhyia Palace. We know we did a good job raising you, but we’ve heard you’re arrogant.”
“We hope that you prove people wrong. As soon as he left there, not up to three hours, he went and said, “That your Kwame Nkrumah.” That is a very disrespectful thing to say about the founder of this nation, and especially a founder who is no longer alive.
“You can insult me because I can respond because I am alive, but in our tradition, you don’t say evil things about the dead. You don’t disrespect the dead because they are not alive to respond to you,” the former president added.
On July 9, 2024, during his unveiling as the running mate to the NPP flagbearer, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Dr Prempeh elevated President Akufo-Addo above Dr Kwame Nkrumah in terms of developmental achievements.
