Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament, has established that the December 2024 polls is different from any other election the State has had in the Fourth Republic.
The Speaker says the poll in question goes beyond the political parties to the soul of the nation.
According to him, it is the test for establishing the resoluteness of Ghana’s multi-party constitutional democracy.
In an exclusive interview with TV3’s Beatrice Adu which was aired Tuesday, September 10, 2024, he reemphasised that the stakes are really high.
“The 2024 elections is unlike the 1992 elections or the 1996 or the 2000 elections. It is not also like 2004, 2008, or 2012 elections, neither is it like the 2016 and 2020. This is a critical election that will determine whether we are truly committed to the cause of multiparty constitutional democracy,” he stated.
The Speaker’s statement was in reaction to President Akufo-Addo’s comment that he was not going to hand over to John Mahama, a President he has defeated in an election before.
This is a statement the President has said more than once, saying it is traditional unfit to hand over leadership to someone you have defeated before.
READ ALSO: 2024 polls: Someone I defeated cannot be my successor – Akufo-Addo
The comment, has since received several criticisms with some saying it doesn’t lie in the President’s mouth to say whom he will hand over to.
Reacting to the comments, the Speaker indicated that he was shocked to hear such a comment from Akufo-Addo, knowing the power he wield does not emanate from him.
“Clearly this election is not just about the political parties, it is about the soul of our nation and so to have very experienced political leaders, particularly His Excellency the President who started politics at a very early age because of his parenthood and who was an activist in the CPP, grew up to be the president of Kwame Nkrumah Youth Forum, and after the 1966 elections joined the United Party, Progress Party, now NPP, to come out after all that experience to say such a thing that is inciting people to violence. That even if we lost the election we will not hand it over, we will do all we can to hold on to power.
“That is unacceptable, I was really shocked to hear that because the President knows that the power he is wielding is not his, it is for the people, particularly the voters. The people voted and gave you that power, once they voted for you, on the 6th of January 2024 HE Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has no such power, he knows, so it is just an empty boast.”
President Akufo-Addo, while addressing supporters at a mini-rally in Doboro in the Greater Accra region following a visit to the premises of Blue Skies Limited, reiterated that he has no confidence in Mr. Mahama to develop the country.
“I can’t hand over to someone I defeated twice and who is not happy with everything I do; he will destroy the work that I have done.
“Vote for Dr. Bamwua; I have worked with him for the past seven and a half years; I have confidence in him; I know he can continue the good work,” he said.
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