Taking his oath of officeIt was indeed a new dawn for Ghanaians as Nana Akufo-Addo was sworn in as Ghana’s new president on Saturday 7th, after beatin
Taking his oath of office
It was indeed a new dawn for Ghanaians as Nana Akufo-Addo was sworn in as Ghana’s new president on Saturday 7th, after beating incumbent leader John Dramani Mahama in the Presidential elections last month, in a ceremony attended by dozens of African leaders, sealing a rare peaceful transfer of power in a region plagued by political crises.
However, there are reports that parts of the inaugural speech delivered by the president was plagiarized. A Ghanaian online news portal, StarFMonline revealed that a portion of the President’s speech was lifted from the inaugural address delivered by former US President George Bush in January 2001, when he assumed office.
The speech by Mr. Bush read: “I ask you to be citizens: Citizens, not spectators; citizens, not subjects; responsible citizens building communities of service and a nation of character”.
The one delivered by Nana Addo to Ghanaians also read : “I ask you to be citizens: citizens, not spectators; citizens, not subjects; responsible citizens building your communities and our nation”.
The obvious imitation of the speech delivered by the former US republican president has sparked a massive social media storm with many calling on the Nana Addo’s speech writer to resign or be fired by the President. In response, the Communications Director at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin attributed the flop to an ‘oversight’.
He wrote on Facebook : “My attention has been drawn to references being made to a statement in the speech delivered by the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, at his swearing in on Saturday, January 7, 2017, which was not duly acknowledged.
“I unreservedly apologise for the non-acknowledgement of this quote to the original author. It was a complete oversight, and never deliberate. It is insightful to note that in the same speech were quotes from J.B Danquah, Dr. K.A. Busia, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and the Bible which were all duly attributed and acknowledged”.
A former human rights lawyer, Nana Akufo Addo is the fifth President of the Fourth Republic established in 1993. The 72 year old who previously served as Attorney General from 2001 to 2003 and as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2003 to 2007, first ran for President in 2008 and again in 2012, both times as the candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), but was defeated on both occasions by NDC candidates; John Atta Mills in 2008 and John Dramani Mahama in 2012. He was chosen as the NPP’s candidate for a third time in the 2016 elections and defeated Mahama in the first round, winning 53.8 per cent of the votes.
Additional reports from Starfmonline
Acknowledging cheers from the crowd
A cross section of some African leaders
