VICE President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has subtly taken a jab at former President John Dramani Mahama over his recent election 2024 “Do or Die” comment while on his Thank You tour in the Bono East Region.
According to the Vice President, ‘’Competition Should not be Do or Die Affair’’.
Dr Mahamudu Bawumia who was speaking at the maiden Ghana Construction Industry Excellence Awards 2021 in Accra on Friday, September 10, humorously encouraged the losers not to consider the awards a do-or-die affair in an apparent reference to Mr Mahama’s controversial comments.
After his usual laugther while addressing the forum said “You know when you go for these competitions or awards, it is not do or die,” he said in jest. “So, we wish you better luck in 2022.”
He added that “But seriously if you go to court to challenge an election result and you have no pink sheets, then your case will die,” he mentioned to abrupt derision in the auditorium.
Mr Mahama’s comments were made on Tuesday, September 7 at the start of the second phase of his Thank You tour in an interview on pro-NDC Akina Radio in Techiman in the Bono East Region.
He stated that 2024 elections will be won or lost at the polling station. “The polling station will be do or die affair. I haven’t said all die be die, it will be do or die at the polling station, in 2024 that is where we will win the election”.
The former President continued that “We will be doing everything to ensure that the election is free and fair. We don’t want to cheat the NPP and we also don’t want them to cheat us. We just want the will of the people to prevail”.
However, the former president’s statement caused uproar with a section of Ghanaians calling on him to retract and apologise.
Justifying the offensive a day after in another radio interview, John Mahama said his threatening comment of “do or die” was just an idiomatic expression.
Speaking on Sunyani-based Moonlite FM on Wednesday, he said he was taken out of context and would not retract his comment.
Mr. Mahama explained that “… They don’t understand do or die. Do or die is an English idiom. In Africa, we have many proverbs and we sometimes don’t say things in the straight format, we use proverbs. In English, we have idiomatic expressions”.
“Those who left school early don’t understand idiomatic expressions. Do or die means a critical assignment you have and so you must do the needful or perish”.
He added: “What I mean is that the NDC should not wait and go back to the Supreme Court, whatever has to be done at the polling stations and collation centres must be done. And so I don’t retract, the next election for NDC is going to be a do or die affair.
“I’m telling all our party executives that you must be at the polling station to make sure that the right thing is done. Don’t abdicate your responsibility at that level and expect that after somebody has stolen the election we’ll go to Supreme Court to see if they would overturn the election for us, they won’t do it,” he said.
BY Daniel Bampoe