Former Attorney General and Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has accused President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of abusing state resources to influence the upcoming December 2024 general elections.
In a strongly worded opinion piece, Mr. Amidu criticized the President’s recent wave of infrastructural project commissions, describing them as a calculated attempt to sway voters and obscure his administration’s shortcomings.
“President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is so scared of a free and fair democratic contest… that he reserved most of the infrastructural developments undertaken under his tenure to be commissioned by his chosen successor and himself within the last three months to the 7 December 2024 elections,” Amidu wrote.
He called the move a “blatant abuse of incumbency” and labeled it a “smokescreen to syphon public funds at the taxpayers’ expense.”
The former Special Prosecutor argued that such last-minute commissions are not only a manipulation of the electoral process but also an insult to the intelligence of the electorate. He described them as a desperate attempt to mask economic and social failures, branding the strategy as election propaganda.
Amidu drew comparisons to previous election cycles, noting how voters have historically seen through similar tactics. He referenced elections in 2000, 2008, and 2016, where he believes voters rejected incumbents for engaging in such behavior.
“The electorate has historically exhibited an awareness of incumbent governments’ ploy to deliberately postpone the commissioning of projects… to cover up their mismanagement of the public purse, abuse of power, and corruption,” he observed.
Amidu further criticized the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), accusing the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia administration of being “power-drunk” and dismissive of the struggles of ordinary Ghanaians. He alleged that their governance style is built on the “create, loot, and share” model, which exploits state resources for political gain.
“The corrupt and looting government machinery of Nana Akufo-Addo and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is so power-drunk that they only see the ordinary Ghanaian as a zombified idiot whose vote can be bought after dangling a few television pictures,” Amidu charged.
He called on voters to reject what he described as a “desperate bid to maintain power” by reflecting on the economic hardships and governance failures of the past seven years.
Martin Amidu’s critique adds to the growing scrutiny of the NPP’s election campaign strategy, as Ghanaians prepare to head to the polls in a highly contested race.
Source: InsiderGH.com
