The Paramount Chief of Peki traditional area, Togbega Dei Kodzo XII, could not hide his admiration and praise for the Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) when he met Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
This was when Dr. Bawumia who is the Presidential Candidate of the ruling NPP in the upcoming December 7 general election and members of his campaign team paid a courtesy call on him at his palace during his campaign tour in the South Dayi Constituency in the Volta Region.
First I must bare it out that, “those who know me, know that I don’t flatter people. If I need to tell you, you are a fool, I will look you in the face and tell you, you are a fool.”
He, therefore, noted that “so whatever I say, it shouldn’t be taken as if because the Vice President is here, I want to flatter him.”
Togbega then stated that, “those of us who are observers realise that a lot of the fruitful policies that the government had introduced if all of us had taken them seriously, I think we would have been singing a better song that we are doing today.”
Apart from that, he noted, “I will also want to say the government and people belonging to the government do not sing their praises enough.”
That, he said was because “if you come to the rural areas, sometimes we don’t even know what the government is doing except if you take interest in what is going on, then you will see what is going on.”
Rather, Togbega Dei Kodzo XII said “We delight in the unfortunate economic difficulties that the country is going through.”
Whilst he acknowledged the fact that more often than not bad news sells more than good news, he advised that “sometimes we need to project the good things that are happening to us so that everybody can take delight and benefit from what it.”
The Paramount Chief of Peki was equally full of praise for Dr. Bawumia for changing the face of the country’s politics.
In the past, he said political activities had been turbulent, full of insults, and threats, and that unpalatable things for children to learn were said on political platforms.
Even though he said that was even before Dr. Bawumia entered, the Paramount Chief admitted that he has had his fair share since he became one.
That, notwithstanding, he indicated “but since he [referring to Bawumia] joined the fray, we notice that his campaign has always been issues-based and this has changed the landscape of our campaigning for now.”
Though he acknowledged pockets of the incidence of insults and threats persist in Ghana’s politics, the Paramount Chief said “What has been the status quo has changed.”
By Charles Takyi Boadu