Deputy General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Koku Anyidoho has described President Akufo Addo as an intelligent politician.
According to Koku, who’s an avowed critic of the President, the Ghanaian Leader with his wealth of political experience has always had the presence of mind to take actions to neutralize any difficult situation especially whenever he and his government come under huge pressure.
President Akufo Addo is set to propose legislation to Parliament to designate 4th August as FOUNDERS DAY, and 21st September as KWAME NKRUMAH MEMORIAL DAY, both of which will be observed as public holidays.
A statement from the Presidency and signed by the Director of Communications at the presidency, Mr Eugene Arhin on Sundy said the President has to this end issued an Executive Instrument to commemorate this year’s celebration of KWAME NKRUMAH MEMORIAL DAY as a public holiday.
Following the development, 21st September, which previously was marked as Founders Day will now be celebrated as Nkrumah Memorial Day in honour of Ghana’s first president Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the statement released on Sunday noted.
But Koku Anyidoho in an interview with Fiifi Banson on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa 102.5FM, said the president’s move is a clear diversionary tactic.
“Nana Akufo Addo is a very smart politician, what he’s introduced into the system this weekend is extremely diversionary and I grant him that, he’s a very smart politician. Just last week he launched the Free SHS programme, and he knows very well that it is beset with a lot of challeneges and he acknowledged that in his speech. He knows that today Monday, people will go back and talk about those issues. lot of issues that will make his government unpopular, so he needed to act quickly and throw in something controversial to change the discussion.
“Nana Akufo Addo is a smart politician and I grant him that, so over the weekened he and his spin doctors sat down and said no…this week let’s throw something in and that will become the subject of discussion, so that it will drown the problems at the Free SHS level, it will drown the UTAG strike, it will drown the issue of army worms destroying farm crops. And so he and is spin doctors, Gabby Asare Otchere Darko and co, that’s what they sat down this weekend and cooked and they’ve thrown it in and we’re discussing the founders day issue now. But some of us who have been in the political game for a long time understand what is going on, but we’ll not allow the problems relating to the Free SHS programme to lay.”
