President John Dramani Mahama has broken silence on the traditional smock he was sported in when he touched down at the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka, Zambia to begin his three-day state visit.
The dress got social media rumbling as Zambians mocked the smock while their Ghanaian counterparts found an opportunity to school on the attire.
Addressing the Ghana-Zambia Business Dialogue on the last leg of his state visit, President Mahama said the buzz his dress created would not have been possible some years back.
However, with the marked improvement in technology, he said, Ghanaians have got to know exactly what has happened throughout his visit to Zambia.
“A lot of time I’m laughing at how far we have come in our communication and digital space,” President Mahama observed.
“At the time I was Deputy Minister and Minister [of Communications], the telecommunications space was just opening up and there was no convergence,” he noted, alluding to how multimedia convergence has become a core feature in media and communication.
“And it was demonstrated when I came out from the aircraft in my traditional attire,” he said.
“It immediately sparked the discussion between the youth of Ghana and the youth of Zambia. That wouldn’t have happened years back. Indeed, even information on the state visit would have happened only when our national TV stations that have filmed myself and President [Hakaine] Hichelema when we get back home and then they put it on to show what has gone on. But Ghanaians have followed every single aspect of this state visit from when I came out of the aircraft.”
Later in an exit interview, President Mahama said smock weavers in Ghana will be happy with the “firestorm” the “innocuous” blouse reference on social media has caused.
“The smock weavers in Ghana will be very happy because I, by power of social media, have given them branding and marketing they couldn’t every have dreamed of ever getting and I am sure that by the time I am leaving here the number of searches for ‘fugu’, ‘batakari’ and smock is going to be that high.”