-As Akufo Addo Shuns Mahama
President Akufo Addo has openly displayed that there is no love lost between him and Ex-President John Dramani Mahama when he deliberately brushed off an opportunity to shake hands with him the ex-President during the ongoing maiden edition of the Kofi Annan Peace and Security (KAPS) Forum.
In viral videos captured by both amateur and professional photographers, President Akufo Addo marked his entrance into the forum with warm cordial handshakes with diplomats and foreign dignitaries at the forum. H spent a few seconds with each dignitary exchanging pleasantries.
However, when he got to ex-President Mahama who was standing in the same position as the other dignitaries, President Akufo Addo merely brushed past his predecessor without so much as a smile or a look towards his direction.
This open display of seeming bile has whipped up public disgust at the President’s behaviour social media is awash with condemnation which was not spared on the President’s own Facebook page “Nana Addo Dasnkwah Akufo-Addo”.
“Hatred doesn’t win. What a terrible diplomatic blunder…This is an embarrassment to Ghanaians. A public image cleansing should be done, quickly by your image consultants,” says one commentator
Another noted: “Are we building a nation or egos? The tension seen in this video shows how our nation is divided. Party politics is the cancer, may destroy us”.
Angry Ghanaian netizens have aimed words such as “Petty, Vindictive, Undiplomatic, Infantile,” etc at the President for his show of open dislike for John Mahama.
Ironically, the event that the President chose to openly express his dislike for his political rival and predecessor at the Presidency is a Peace Forum in honour of the late Noble Peace Laureate and former General Secretary of the United Nations, Dr. Kofi Annan. The forum which started on Wednesday, September 4, 2019, will end today September 5, 2019, under the theme: “Peace Operations in the Context of Violent Extremism in Africa”.