Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has denied having a second wife, let alone know a lady by the name Ramatu as being forced on him.
It follows speculations by members od the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the Vice President was having a second wife by name Ramatu she was keeping away from the public.
It all started as a slip of tongue by the newly elected and sworn in Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin on January 7, 2021 during the swearing in of President Akufo-Addo and Dr Bawumia after their re-election.
Bagbin for some strange reason laden with mischief mentioned Ramatu instead Samira when he was introducing the wife of the Vice President, thereby raising eyebrows.
Even though he later apologised and corrected the name by introducing Samira Bawumia, the seemingly mischievous smiles that accompanied it gave room for suspicion and speculation especially on various social media platforms.
The speculation and its accompanying mischief came to a crescendo when President Akufo-Addo presented the State of the Nation Address (SONA) to Parliament on Monday when Second Lady Samira was introduced by the Speaker, with opposition MPs chanting the name of Ramatu.
In a statement however, Spokesman for Dr Bawumia, Dr Gideon Boako asked Ghanaians to ignore rumours, describing it as a fabricated story.
“The office of the Vice-President wishes to inform the general public that the
Vice-President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has never met or seen this
purported Ramatu let alone take her as a wife”, he noted.
That, he said was because “she is a figment of the
imagination of people trying hard to tarnish the image of the Vice-President for
their own purposes.”
Instead, he insisted that “the Vice-President has only one wife, his dear
Samira Bawumia and they have been married for 17 years even though his
religion permits him to marry up to four wives.”
The Office of the Vice President has since asked the public to as it were “ignore the propaganda and deliberate falsehood.”
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent