Prez Mahama jabs Nana Addo

President John Dramani Mahama has slammed critics who say his speech at Ghana’s 59th Independence Day parade was uninspiring and empty.

According to him, his speech was a commemorative one and perfect for the occasion.

“I think they don’t understand the purpose of the independence speech. We have what we call commemorative speeches. Commemorative speeches mark Independence Day where you remember the heroes of your nations. They are not heavy on policy. Policy is dealt with in state of the nation addresses. In commemorative speeches you are rallying your nation, you are building up the sense of patriotism, you are holding up heroes of the nation so that people can emulate them,” President Mahama said.

Flagbearer of the NPP Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo criticized President Mahama for delivering what he called an uninspiring speech at the 59th Independence anniversary day parade.

But in an exclusive interview with Accra based TV3 President Mahama argued that Nana Addo lacked the understanding of what should be contained in an Independence Day anniversary speech.

President Mahama believes Nana Addo had anticipated that he touches on policy because it is an election year.

“We are in election year so if somebody said it was empty maybe they might have their motives for saying that. I’ve delivered three similar speeches from 2013 till date, it was never described as empty and it’s only when we have an election coming up that they say the speech was empty,” he said.

He also explained that “normally those [Independence Day] speeches are very short; you can’t put too much in them because it’s a highlight of a long ceremony. Children have been standing in the sun and security forces so you can’t come and read a two hour long speech so you can’t put everything in it.”

Story by Michael Creg Afful

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