Nana Akufo-Addo’s speech plagiarism controversy has brought more shame to Ghana than “my winter coat” saga did and the president must acknowledge the enormity of the issue and make the necessary amends, the General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has said.
“It’s not petty; it’s a major issue that has brought disgrace to Ghana in the international community,” General Mosquito, as Mr Asiedu Nketia is known in political circles, said, adding: “The Washington Post, New York Times, CNN, Al Jazeera and the BBC are all running commentary on it and it shows it’s a major issue, it’s a blot on the country’s image. The needed corrections must be done.”
Mr Asiedu Nketia, who was trolled on social media and also became the toast of international media for wearing his wife’s winter coat while on a trip to Germany with President John Mahama in 2015, said: “If my winter coat issue alone could have been said to have brought international disgrace to the entire country, how much more the case of the president plagiarising the comments of some former US presidents in his inaugural speech?”
According to him, “They [NPP] even used the plagiarism card against Tamale South MP Haruna Iddrisu, who is now the Minority Leader, leading to his degree being stood down until a committee cleared him of any wrongdoing. It tells you the seriousness of plagiarism. So it’s a bit surprising that university lecturers are now defending the act.
“If they keep trying to cover-up the president’s faults as they are doing, it will get to a point where: ‘The Emperor will be naked, yet everyone would be telling him his cloak is nice.’”
In his estimation, even though the president’s speechwriter has apologised for the gaffe, it was important for Nana Akufo-Addo to officially write to parliament to correct the anomaly since the inauguration was done in parliament.
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