Majority Leader laments the continued absence of former President
An aide to Mahama dismisses concerns as ‘comic relief’
An aide to former President John Dramani Mahama, Stan Dobge, has replied to concerns raised by Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs over Mahama’s absence at state functions where President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is in attendance.
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, cited the recent case of the 2022 State of The Nation Address, SoNA, where Mahama was absent, adding that he has serially been absent at similar addresses over the years.
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu raised the concerns as Parliament rounded up debate on the President’s address which was delivered on March 29, 2022.
Stan Dogbe via his social media handle described the concern as ‘comic relief’ and advised the Majority Leader to pursue a legal route to ‘force’ the former President to attend the SoNA.
“Comic relief. You can go to your court and compel him to attend next time,” Dogbe tweeted with a screenshot of a report on the issue. He added: “Krom ha die3!!!,” which translates as ‘As for this town,’ in the Akan language.
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Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu’s concerns
“Conspicuously absent [during the recent State of the Nation Address] was former President John Dramani Mahama.
“That certainly is not a good account of the immediate past President and [former] Presidential candidate. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo did not attend the SONA presented by John Mahama in 2013 because the NPP at the time was contesting the legitimacy of the President.
“The NPP parliamentary group boycotted the 2013 events accordingly. But it is worth commending that former President John Agyekum Kufuor attended the swearing-in of President Mahama in 2013 in his capacity as a former President,” Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said.
“The matter was settled by the Supreme Court in the second half of 2013 in favour of President Mahama.
“The NPP minority group subsequently attended the event in 2014 because the case had been decided. Nana Akufo-Addo did not attend the 2014 event because he had travelled outside the country.
“In 2015, he had returned to the country and accordingly attended the event. It is instructive to note that [former] President Mahama has not attended any of the seven events that had President Akufo-Addo as the key personality. The people of this country will not forget,” he added.
