Bike riding unnecessary: Fix ailing economy - Irbard to Mahama

A Security and International Relations Expert Irbard Ibrahim has asked President John Dramani Mahama to show that he is a man of courage by convincing the teeming youth of the country of his capability to fix the ailing economy and not mounting a motorbike through the streets of Accra on a rainy and slippery road.

According to Irbard, the president’s adventure could have been a challenge to flag bearer of the largest opposition New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwah Akkufo-Addo to prove his mettle and show how fit or healthy he is to be president.

But he is of the view that “showing courage and masculinity in fixing Ghana’s ailing economy and fixing the alarming rate of unemployment could have been more impressive to us the youth of this country than putting his life in danger for whatever political reasons.”

He has asked persons in charge of President Mahama’s security issues to make the president’s personal safety their priority and not allow him embark on ventures that could have consequences on his life.

“This (motor) is a machine and it can fail you at any time especially on a slippery day in Accra. It was a wrong move, let’s admit it. This was meant to be a PR gimmick but it’s a gimmick gone wrong. It was meant overtly, we are told, to have first hand access to flood hit areas, but covertly, I think this was a political statement to flex his Excellency’s muscles in public and show that he can show some masculinity and therefore Nana Addo Dankwah Akkufo-Addo, even though advanced in age, whose fitness and health have been questioned cannot do what he is doing and therefore not fit to be president. This is a PR, a political statement,” he told Kapital News on Monday.

He said from a security point of view, the danger and risks that came with this act by the president was not worth it.

“And we shouldn’t repeat such a security blunder as a nation again,” he added.

According to Irbard, President Mahama on a Motorbike on Accra’s dangerous roads on a rainy and slippery day was unpresidential and a wrong move because a serious injury or death of a sitting President could have serious National Security Implications for Ghana in an Election Year.

“Fundamentally, we are talking about the security of the nation and the sanctity of the presidency. The presidency is a sacred status and therefore if anyone would want to play chess with it and by extension tip the country on the path of potential instability, then we should stand ready to criticize any such security blunder,” Irbard told Kapital News.

President Mahama has been captured in a video riding on a plush Honda motorbike. The video and images went viral Sunday on Social Media.

The first gentleman of the land consigned his luxurious V8 vehicles and his huge convoy and instead decided to go on a stroll in Accra on a motorbike.

It however remains unclear when and where the video and images were taken but reports indicates that the President set off from his brother Ibrahim Mahama’s residence in Kawukudi.

The President is seen dressed in a jeans apparel wearing a helmet and unaccompanied by any security detail.