Mixed reactions greet Nana Addo’s address on Ghana-US deal

General News of Friday, 6 April 2018

Source: citinewsroom.com

2018-04-06

Akufo RecklessnessPresident Akufo-Addo during his address revealed he is outraged by the reaction of the NDC

President Akufo-Addo’s Thursday night address to Ghanaians on the US defense cooperation agreement has been greeted with mixed reactions.

The first perhaps from social media is that the presidential address meant to clear doubts and settle the confusion in the minds of many, was rather about ranting and vituperation targeted at political opponents.

In the last few weeks, there have been varied instances of ranting over the agreement, and it appeared some were burnt and giving the President a good dose of same, especially as some argue that his communicators couldn’t rant their lungs back hard enough at his critics.

The Commander in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, therefore took it upon himself to put the fear of God in a group he considers ‘a fraternity of reckless, self-seeking, unpatriotic and unspeakable hypocrites’.

But not every Ghanaian was enthused with the President’s rant. Whereas others have commended him, his critics are of the view that he failed to address the real issues, and rather took a combative towards his critics.

“From the start, I thought it was late. But later on, I understood why he will come in later to talk because the people were so aggressive to hear from him” a lady said to Citi News. She continued that “so his lateness was okay. But for the kind of things he said, I was disappointed when he waded into the opposition angle using words like hypocrites. It wasn’t nice for him to have said that. I agree with those who think the President was needlessly angry.”

She however has some justification of the President’s address, saying, “I am sure it was because of the insults he heard when the issue was ongoing, the kind of things people were saying about him. He thought that it was harsh so he should also come in and let them understand that what he is doing is in the interest of Ghana. That was when I think the emotional thing was so much. He was overly emotional.”

She also had a word of advice for the President, saying “he is my President, so one thing I will tell the President is that, when issues like these come up, we have opposition and those who put him in office. He should always put those two people into consideration because you are talking to Ghanaians and not your party.”

Another Ghanaian said, “when the issue came up, a lot of people were talking; and being the President he chose not to rush with things, so he stayed back and listened to the reactions. And then because the agreement had been sent to Parliament for deliberations, I thought that this is the right time for him to speak on the matter. Again, the way the opposition came with the demonstration and all that, the manner that he came and addressed the issue was fair. I also felt that at some point he came out to state clearly that there was not going to be a US military base in Ghana. And I will take his word for it” he said.

“The President is also being himself. You can realize that there is a lot of frustration that has gone into this. For you to know that the previous government has done something like that before and for them to come out the way they did, I don’t see anything wrong with his choice of words” another said.

“I am not saying it is okay for him to allow his emotions to take the better part of him. I like the way Nana Addo addresses issues; he does them in a very mature way. So when you look at the way the whole thing went about with the demonstrations and Koku Anyidoho’s arrest, I am okay with his response. It was spot on” another person noted.

However, there are other Ghanaians who firmly stated their dislike and mistrust for leadership on the both side of the political divide.

‘This is politics, these people I don’t trust them. I read an article yesterday that the agreement was first signed long ago. So I don’t know why these people are twisting us. I can’t base on this President’s address to judge. They are all the same my brother; that is the bottom line. I am not taking the message serious. I don’t trust them. I will continue to vote whichever way I like, but after voting I will just sit back and watch” one frustrated Ghanaian stated.

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