Deputy General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) says the Akufo-Addo administration should learn to accept criticism in good fate instead of responding with invectives.
Invectives, he noted, were used in the Vice-President’s reply to former President and NDC leader John Mahama who has branded a government’s GhanaPostGPS as a ‘419’ app.
Dr. Bawumia said John Mahama is clueless about the system and urged him to take time and read. He also jabbed, that the best examples of 419 schemes were found in a litany of scandals under Mahama.
Koku Anyidoho said “Dr. Bawumia should deal with the issues” although Dr. Bawumia’s 4-page statement contained explanations on how the National Digital Address System is designed to work.
According to the deputy General Secretary “the NPP is becoming impatient and very intolerant. You criticise and they come very abusive; deal with the issues but don’t go insulting”.
He wants Dr. Bawumia to be prepared to be served the same criticism he dished out in opposition to the NDC’s days in power.
The NDC man recalled Dr. Bawumia virtually became the face of then opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) “crusading all the places, holding press conferences” and should therefore see nothing wrong when his policies are being criticised by the now opposition party.
Koku Anyidoho said the wave of political vigilantism under president Akufo-Addo proves the government is “completely impotent”.
Since the NPP took over power in January, there have been several reports of enraged party youths attacking state institutions and appointees over jobs, appointments to political offices and political allocation of resources.
Some 13 members were fined ?1,800 each by a court, a judgment criticised as woefully inadequate in serving as a detterent. Several other acts of hooliganism are yet to be punished.
According to Koku Anyidoho, the government is “impotent to the extent that they have collapsed the security system, the security system cannot operate.”
Meanwhile, Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid has defended the Dr. Bawumia’s response to the former President.
He said Mr. Mahama deserved the kind of response he got from the Vice-President because his comments sought to suggest Dr. Bawumia who is the “driver of the digital economy” engaged in fraud.
“I don’t think that the vice president did something wrong” Hamid stated adding that “It is not his nature to let untruth stand.”
“If somebody calls you fraudulent, you will be hurt and you will have to get the hurt off your chest,” the Minister stated.
