The spokesperson of the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has shot down possibility of a debate between the NPP leader and President John Mahama.
Mustapha Hamid says Mr Akufo-Addo meant business and would not debate a President whom he said has been unable to maintain his position on any issue in the country.
“No we don’t accept such challenges that are thrown in the air merely for propaganda purposes,” he told Dzifa Bampoh, host of Joy FM’s Top Story Programme, Thursday.
He wondered why the President would call for a debate when the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) had turned down an invitation by Accra-based think tank, Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) to partake in the 2016 Presidential Debate.
President Mahama has sounded his preparedness to take on the three-time leader of NPP on significant issues affecting the country.
Speaking in an exclusive interview on Ho-based Volta Star Radio in the Volta Region Thursday, the President said Ghanaians deserve a debate between himself and Mr Akufo-Addo to have the perceived crisis in the economy resolved.
“I think debates are very important…because a lot of misinformation was being thrown all over the place and Nana Akufo-Addo and his running mate continue to misinform the Ghanaian public,” he said.
He said the platform would afford them the opportunity to demonstrate to Ghanaians with facts and figures why the position they hold about the economy should be accepted as the truth.
“They say the economy is in crisis if we have the debate you will show why the economy is in crisis.”
He first threw the challenge in March 2016 when he granted an interview with Accra-based TV3. He said he was “willing, even this afternoon, if Nana presented himself, to take him on all those contentious statements that he’s made.”
But Mr Hamid said the President’s challenge is laughable considering he has become a “flip-flopper” swinging his position on relevant national issues.
“He said he would restore the [teacher and] nursing trainee allowance after he had promised not to reverse the decision,” he said, adding “We need a decisive leadership.”
He, however, said the NPP leader would debate the President if he would address a letter to the party.
“You don’t invite people to a boxing bout if you don’t write to their promoters,” he said. “Is that how he runs the country?”
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