V8 assigned to presidential chair triggers social media chatter
TV3 journalist observes Akufo-Addo uses available chair instead of ‘throne’
TV3 journalist and morning show host, Johnnie Hughes has observed that President Nana Addo Danka Akufo-Addo made do with a chair he was provided whiles granting a recent interview in London.
During the said interview with the BBC Africa section, Akufo-Addo responds to a myriad of issues including the state of the Ghanaian economy, coups within the West African sub-region and the E-Levy.
He is shown seated in a brown and black chair, the same as the one that shows host Peter Okwoche is seated on at the venue.
The journalist rhetorically posed in a tweet: “So it is possible NOT to carry the Almighty white chair around everywhere President Akufo-Addo goes, anyway?”
His question is in relation to how the President’s preferred gold-plated chair has always travelled with him to most state functions and even media engagements across the country.
The development has triggered political backlash with some opponents alleging that the said chair is allocated a full vehicle to transport it in the president’s entourage.
See Hughes’ tweet below:
Lawyer Edudzi Kudzo Tamekloe of the National Democratic Congress, months back admitted his shock when years ago he witnessed the truth about how President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s presidential chair was allocated a V8 to transport it to public functions.
“The President assigns V8 to carry his chair. In fact, initially, I thought it was not true until I saw it. The first time when I saw it myself I was shocked, (it was) at the burial grounds of a retired Supreme Court judge,” he said on Metro TV
Presidential chair and controversy
In August 2020, the presidential chair became topical after netizens pointed out in a series of photos that the President used a particular chair at all public events whenever and wherever he travelled nationwide.
This came after pictures of him at different radio stations on a regional tour saw him use the particular chair.
During Akufo-Addo’s tour in the North East Region at the time, he visited PAD 95.1 FM for an interview along with his presidential seat. The usual studio seat, according to the picture making rounds, was shifted aside, and replaced with his.
Also, during his visit over the weekend to the Ashanti Region, his presidential seat was taken along with him for an interview with Wontumi Radio Station among others.
There have been mixed reactions in the public space over the chair, as some say it’s a standard protocol while others have attached spiritual connotations.
Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, who commented on the Facebook post by Francis Kenndy Ocloo, at the time explained that it was to keep the President protected from Coronavirus.
View his Timepath below:
Akufo-Addo with BBC journalist and Akufo-Addo seated on his presidential chair