Founding President of think tank, Imani Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has supported a call by former President John Mahama to debate President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on their performance in office.
Mahama spent four years in office and believed he performed creditably whereas, Akufo-Addo is almost four years into his first term and also believed he has grown almost all sectors of the economy within the past few years.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the two gentlemen will slug it out in this year’s presidential elections on December 7 after they both started campaigning ahead of the polls.
Mahama on his campaign tour of the Volta Region threw a challenge to Akufo-Addo to come for a one-on-one debate if he thinks that he has performed better than him.
“I am willing to present myself for a debate with President Akufo-Addo any day, anytime, anywhere. And we will settle the matter once and for all,” John Mahama said on Wednesday August 19.
But the government, through a Deputy Minister of Information, Pius Enam Hadzide, has said that kind of debate is unnecessary.
Mr Hadzide told Martin Asiedu Darteh on TV3’s News@10 Thursday August 20 that the kind of debate Mahama is calling for has been ongoing within the media space among stakeholders since Tuesday 18 after the vice president Dr Mahamudu Bawumia recounted the achievements of the government with respect to infrastructure.
The vice president had said since 2017, the government of President Akufo-Addo has initiated 17,334 infrastructural projects in this country. “Of these, we have completed 8,746 and there is 8,588 ongoing,” Dr Bawumia said.
Reacting to Mr Mahama’s call, Pius Hadzide said “That invitation is pointless and unnecessary.
“It is a desperate and smart way of Mahama to run away from a discussion on debate that is already ongoing on infrastructure of the first term of every administration.”
However, Franklin Cudjoe told Asiedu-Dartey that it will serve the interest of the public if such debate were to take place.
“It will be interesting in knowing whether the loans we have secured for projects are concessionary or (others).
“We are quite sure that a debate of this nature will serve the people of Ghana a lot more.”
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana