Why is 'sleeping' Akufo-Addo calling for broader consultation now? - Aseidu Nketia asks

General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia has hit hard at President Nana Akufo-Addo following the latter's directive to members of his administration to undertake further engagements with stakeholders on the upcoming referendum.

The NDC Chief Scribe wondered when the President woke up from his slumber and now wants to consult broadly on the upcoming referendum process.

"...Is the President now going to do broader or further consultation? I thought John Boadu in his press conference said that they did broader consultation and some people disappointed them. Is it now that the President has remembered or when we started the referendum process, he was sleeping and now he is awake to realize that he should do broader consultations at this point?” he cynically asked.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, last week directed that government undertakes further engagements with stakeholders on the upcoming referendum, in the wake of the controversies and what seem to be divisions that have engulfed the country, heady days to the 17 December polls to decide whether or not partisan politicians could participate in elections at the local assembly level.

As reported by The New Crusading Guide, the purpose of the engagement, according to sources at the Ministry of Information, is to seek to clear up misconceptions about the purpose of the referendum and build consensus on the way forward.

“This round of engagement shall involve His Excellency the Vice President Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Marfo and other Government Officials. Stakeholders such as Religious, traditional bodies, Civil Society Organizations, Journalists, etc are expected to be engaged from Wednesday, November 20, 2019,” the Information Ministry source disclosed.

But Asiedu Nketia, speaking in an interview on Okay FM’s Ade Akye Abia Morning Show wondered if the president had completed the process for broader consultations when he mentioned during his visit to the Volta Region that Ghanaians should vote ‘Yes’ in the December 17 referendum.

“When he stood on the soil of Volta Region, saying that Ghanaians should vote ‘Yes’ in the December 17 referendum, to mean that we are going to vote to elect MMDCEs, does he come from this country? At that time, has he finished his broader consultations?”



“This simply means that President Akufo-Addo does not understand the work of the referendum; together with their EC, they don’t understand the work very well and they have created their confusion, swimming in it and we are also standing aside watching them in their confusion,” he added.

The NDC General Secretary, however, pointed out that the opposition party is willing to participate in any broader engagement on the referendum as proposed by the president if only the suggestions that will be raised by the NDC will be implemented by the government.

“We mean well for the country and if they will do the proper thing by coming back to the drawing board to discuss the referendum again genuinely and work with the suggestions we will provide, it will help the country,” he said.