Baako: Akufo-Addo is 'most bastardised' Ghanaian politician

The flagbearer of Ghana’s biggest opposition party is the most vilified Ghanaian politician in the country’s recent political history, Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Kweku Baako Jr., has asserted.

“Akufo-Addo is the most maligned politician in Ghana in recent years,” he told Peace FM’s Kwame Sefa Kayi on ‘Kokrokoo’ Wednesday.

“…They’ve bastardised the man, vilified him, assassinated his character, all without providing an iota of evidence,” Mr Baako said on the programme.

His assertion follows President John Mahama’s recent comment that he is the most insulted president in the history of Ghanaian politics. At the launch of his ‘Changing Lives, Transforming Ghana’ tour in the Greater Accra Region, Mr Mahama singled out Mr Akufo-Addo’s running mate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and questioned the former deputy Bank of Ghana governor’s competence in questioning his (Mahama’s) competence.

"…You still hear Bawumia say incompetent Mahama. You’ve never held any responsibility anywhere near the presidency; you don’t know what it is like to be president.

"I’ll take that from Kufuor or from Rawlings because they’ve been there before. All of you guys [NPP critics] have never ever come near the presidency. [Do] you know what it takes to be a President? And you stand and say ‘incompetent Mahama administration,’” the President responded.

Mr Mahama’s response followed Dr Bawumia’s recent assertions that "reckless" borrowing by the Mahama administration will saddle Ghana with a total debt stock of nearly GHC100 billion by the end of the year.

"We’ll reach GHC99billion by the end of this year," the former Governor of the Bank of Ghana told journalists after Finance Minister Seth Terkper read the 2016 budget to Parliament on Friday.

"The interest on this debt alone is going to be six times Ghana’s oil revenue," Dr Bawumia said.

Dr Bawumia also accused the President of running a friends-and-family, as well as 'dumsor' and dead-goat economy.

In his response, however, President Mahama asked Dr Bawumia: "What do you know about competence?"

"All of them [NPP critics], in the offices they occupied, they should tell us what competence they displayed," Mr Mahama challenged.

"Anyway, my competence is not for them to judge, it’s for the people of Ghana to judge, and I know that come 7 November 2016, the people of Ghana will judge my competence and they’ll give me a second term in office and the NDC will win another victory by the grace of almighty God," he said.

According to Mr Baako, however, even though Mr Akufo-Addo has not been president before, he has taken more flak from his opponents than any other politician in Ghana.

According to him, President Mahama’s claim that he is the most insulted president in the country’s history is debatable.