Former President John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has accused Vice President and New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, of making misleading statements during his media engagement on Sunday, August 25, just a day after the NDC launched its manifesto.

Mahama asserted that Dr Bawumia’s “sudden stammering posture” during the encounter, revealed his dishonesty and ulterior motives, raising doubts about his credibility.

The NPP flagbearer, on Sunday, August 25, 2024, severally jabbed his main contender, including suggesting that he doesn’t read, but only eats and sleeps, hence cannot appreciate the excellent performance of the Akufo-Addo government.

The Vice-President was reacting to a question about ex-President Mahama’s description of him as a failed economic messiah. Dr Bawumia, accused also Mr Mahama of economic mismanagement which left the banking sector in a bad situation.

Mr Mahama, during the first day of his two-day campaign tour in Ada, Greater Accra Region, yesterday, Tuesday, August 27, insisted that Dr Bawumia and the NPP used the media event as a diversionary tactic to distract attention from the NDC’s manifesto and policy proposals.

 “We [NDC] announced that we were going to launch our manifesto on the 24th of August. Immediately our [NPP] opponents announced that they were going to do a media encounter on the 25th of August, the very next day.

“You know, the intention for doing that media encounter, the next day after we had announced our manifesto was to turn the attention of Ghanaians from the NDC manifesto. That was the main reason, that they decided to do a media encounter the very next day that we launched our manifesto.”

“When you do something with devious intentions, it backfires on you. You know how to tell if people are lying. If there are people who are smooth talkers who can speak like machine guns, the time when they become stammerers you know they are lying.

Somebody who has been speaking “ratatatata” like AK 47 suddenly, at a media encounter, starts stammering.”

His comment follows a media engagement with the NPP’s flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia on Sunday, August 25, a day after the NDC’s manifesto was unveiled in Winneba.

Speaking at a community event at Kasseh in Ada, Mahama criticised the timing of Dr Bawumia’s media engagement, alleging it was strategically planned to overshadow the NDC’s manifesto.

 “That was the main reason why they decided to do a media encounter the very next day after we launched our manifesto. But you see when you do something with devious intentions, it backfires on you. You know how to tell when somebody is lying. If there are people who are smooth talkers, the time when they become stammerers and they start stammering, you know they are lying.

The person started stammering and you can’t tell the head or tail. And so you must do things with truthful intention and the basic principle of leadership is truth and honesty.

“If you want to be a leader, you must be truthful and honest to your people and so NDC will always speak the truth.”

Dr Bawumia, during his media engagement said he had never been a President before unlike his opponent and that the electorate should vote for him instead.

However, during a community engagement as part of his Greater Accra regional campaign, Mahama slammed Bawumia and the NPP over what he described as a “failed attempt” to turn the attention of Ghanaians from the NDC’s manifesto launch by engaging the media a day after the launch.

Mahama accused the NPP flagbearer of being dishonest in his encounter with the media.

“Our youth do not have the luxury of time. Because our youth are the future and they are also present. They don’t have the luxury of trial and error, this one will come and try, dump us in the ditch and the driver’s mate will come and take it and try again and crash us even further into the ditch.

“We need experience, we need someone who has done it before. We need a licensed driver to take over the vehicle and move the vehicle to where God has destined,” he stated.

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