I’m used to your ‘incompetent tag’ - Mahama jabs Bawumia

Former President John Mahama has said he is not bothered by Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s consistent referral to him as “The Incompetent One”.

“He calls me ‘The Incompetent One’. That really doesn’t bother me”, the flag bearer of the main opposition for the 2020 elections told his audience on social media during an interactive Facebook Live session on Thursday, 23 August 2019.

Commenting on the decision by Mr Mahama to stage a second comeback, Dr Bawumia said in October last year that: “I hear ‘The Incompetent One’ says he wants to come back. He wants to come and do more damage as if he didn’t do enough damage. Well, we’re waiting for him. Oh my God”.

Dr Bawumia made the comment when he spoke at a meeting with Metropolitan and Municipal District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) in Accra.

Mr Mahama, however, said his many years of being in politics has taught him to be civil in his language, adding that he would not go the way of Dr Bawumia.

“I’ve been in politics or in public service since 1996 and that is almost 23 years ago. I believe that we must always be responsible in our discourse and we must be civil in the way we address each other. And, so, I’m not a person who will go deriding anybody. I try to maintain the discourse at a level where people will listen and the discerning Ghanaian will make a choice and, so, it doesn’t matter who is uncivil to me or who abuses me or who throws insults at me.

“I know he calls me ‘The Incompetent One’ or something like that but it doesn’t really bother me. I think the people of Ghana are discerning and they can tell the contribution that I’ve made to our public service since I’ve been in politics. I will continue to respond as civilly and courteously as possible and I think that it’s for all politicians to learn. Politics need not be dirty.

We can play politics at a level that allows people who have the competence to come into it. It’s when it descends into insults that makes people who have the capacity to come and help run our public services want to stay away from politics and, so, let’s make it clean so that everybody can come in and participate”.