Kwame Baffoe Abronye DC, Bono Regional Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party, NPP, has reacted to an incident over the weekend where President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was booed.
Akufo-Addo was subjected to 'away, away!' chants by a section of the crowd at the Global Citizen Festival that took place at the Black Star Square on Saturday, September 24.
Abronye lamented that for all the development efforts Akufo-Addo has undertaken, some people had opted to boo him for reasons best known to them.
Commenting via his Facebook account on Sunday, September 25, Abronye added that booing needed to be reserved for leaders who have engaged in acts of corruption - going on to specifically mention former president John Dramani Mahama.
John Mahama he said, was the character that deserved 'away, away, away,' boos because of the corruption that he allegedly engaged in during his time as president.
He cited a specific allegation where the erstwhile government is said to have entered a "bad" contract for the management of Ghana's main port i.e. the Meridian Port Services contract of 2015.
His post read in part: The "Away Away" won't bring back our Port that was sold by John Mahama for 35 years at just GHS 7 billion dollars to his best friend Vincent Bollore (Meridian Port Services) in 2015.
"Termination of this agreement will cause the nation $21 billion. if the away away crowd can cough this amount for Vincent Bollore, the government is ready to terminate the contract signed by John Mahama and this will reduce our hardship," he averred.
The NPP regional chairman also expressed shock at young people who he said were backing John Mahama to return as president despite his alleged sins relative to corruption.
"The Ghanaian Youth who are calling for the coming of JM should just add 35 years to his current age. Someone sold your destiny when he was in power or government and you're still calling for his come back..
"It is John Mahama who deserves Away Away Away Away and not someone who even in the middle of pandemic is engaging in several developmental projects," his post concluded.
Thousands of patrons were at the venue to witness the Global Citizen festival which had a number of local and international artistes performing.
As host of the event, the president was called upon to give his remarks, which happened to be a prepared speech that lasted over six minutes.
The booing happened when he started his speech saying: "The whole world is in Ghana today."
What started initially as people showing their disapproval of his presence on the stage, turned into loud clapping and chanting of the words: "away, away...," the president, however, stayed the course and delivered his full speech.
As if that was not enough, people on social media latched on to the development to mock the president.
Watch how the booing started:
About the Global Citizen group and its festival
Global Citizen is the world's largest movement of action takers and impact makers dedicated to ending extreme poverty NOW.
The voices of millions of Global Citizens around the world are driving lasting change towards sustainability, equality, and humanity by taking action every day.
The Global Citizen Festival started as a music festival where fans take actions to end extreme poverty in order to earn free tickets to attend.
You can also watch the latest episode of People & Places here:
