A Deputy Communications Officer for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Malik Basintale has chided President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for angrily directing the chief of Mempeasem to be on his feet to observe the national anthem in public.
The Communicator believes that it was very disrespectful of the President to instruct the chief in that manner during the Green Ghana Day event.
Malik also opined that Akufo-Addo’s behaviour is a result of not growing up in Ghana because African children are taught not to reprimand elders in public even when they are wrong.
“If President Akufo-Addo had lived his entire life in Ghana, he would have learnt what I learnt in my home that there are things you can’t do to an adult publicly. …we were trained that even when an elderly person goofs in public, you don’t look in his face and tell him you have lied or you don’t attack or criticize him just the way you want to do in public.
“This is a traditional ruler for God’s sake! This is a man who came with an entourage. This is a man who leads a section of the sovereignty of the state and just because the man may have erred in your opinion, you think that the best way to address it is to vent your anger and demonstrate it publicly as if the man were some child or small boy, " Malik said on a panel on the TV3 New Day show.
In a viral video that circulated on social media between June 10 and 13, 2023, President Akufo-Addo could be seen visibly agitated and forcefully instructing Henry Quartey to address a situation that purportedly had transpired during the anthem recitation.
During the event, as the national anthem was being sung, attendees proudly stood, symbolizing their patriotism, the Mempeasem chief and his elders were seated.
Meanwhile, the Chief of Mempeasem, Nii Torgbor Obodai Ampaw VI, has apologised to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for incurring his wrath during the Green Ghana Day event on June 9, 2023.
According to the chief, his decision to remain seated while the national anthem played at the Green Ghana Day event was due to his ill health and not an act of disrespect to the President or the anthem.
If Akufo-Addo had grown up in Ghana he would’ve learnt that there are things you can’t do to adults https://t.co/haDNep6wFP
President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo