In finding a soft way to tell Ghanaians he has developed a thick skin for threats of strikes and demonstrations, former President John Mahama in 2015 said he had developed what he termed a “dead-goat syndrome”
“I have seen more demonstrations and strikes in my first two years. I don’t think it can get worse. It is said that when you kill a goat and you frighten it with a knife, it doesn’t fear the knife because it is dead already.
“I have a dead-goat syndrome,” Mahama told the Ghanaian community in Botswana when he met them during his three-day state visit to that country in March 2015.
But that was the beginning of a social media troll of Mahama as a “dead-goat” suddenly became his nickname in Ghanaian politics; a name the opposition at the time used to hit hard at him whenever he seemed not to be listening to the cries of the people.
Statements like, “don’t be surprised at Mahama, after all, he is a dead-goat”, “The man said he’s a dead-goat so he won’t listen to Ghanaians” etcetera, were daily heard during political arguments between ordinary Ghanaians and key politicians.
Three years along the line, Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo appears to be earning himself a nickname out of a statement he made while addressing internal auditors in Accra on August 1.
Apparently, tired of the number of corruption allegations against him and his family since assuming office 18 months ago, Nana Akufo-Addo, said like a dog, some people [political opponents] were trying hard to give him a bad name in order to hang him.
But the President using idiomatic expression, said such “desperate” efforts by his political opponents will not materialized
“I’m aware that you give a dog a bad name in order to hang it but this dog [reference to himself] will not be hanged,” Akufo-Addo told the detractors who have been accusing him of corruption.
And typical of Ghanaians, some have started capitalizing on the statement to nickname the President a “dog” as they did with John Mahama in 2015 when he referred to himself as “dead-goat”.
Since experience is the best teacher, and Mr. Mahama having gone through such trolls, he has given what could be a perfect advice to Nana Akufo-Addo and politicians going forward in order to avoid such nicknames.
Just 24 hours after Nana Akufo-Addo’s dog comment, Mahama tweeted “Lessons in Ghanaian politics- don’t use idioms in relation to yourself. They’ll stick.”
Lessons in Ghanaian politics- don’t use idioms in relation to yourself. They’ll stick. pic.twitter.com/HRfp9r2VRL
— John Dramani Mahama (@JDMahama) August 2, 2018
Is this a great advice and will politicians take a cue from the lessons of the Mahama and Nana Akufo-Addo?
By Stephen Kwabena Effah|3news.com|Ghana
Follow @steviekgh_TV3