Insults have never won elections – Yankah to 'Mahama Boys'

Former Minister of Information in the Rawlings administration, Kojo Yankah, has replied supporters of former President John Mahama who insulted him for advising Mr Mahama to rethink his decision to stage a comeback for the 2020 elections, saying insults won’t win them an election.

Mr Mahama’s supporters criticised Mr Yankah on social media for saying: “My humble request is for you to give a second thought to your decision”, adding: “If l am too late in coming, or if you have heard my reasoning before, l wish you well. Definitely you may hear other voices more compelling than mine. May the Good Lord guide your paths”.

In a response to the above comment, some of Mr Mahama’s fans accused Mr Yankah of accepting monies from the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) to speak in the manner he did, and further advised the AUCC founder to return such monies because any bidding he does for the NPP will not work.

Others also pointed out that the “unsolicited advice” by Mr Yankah “is definitely not based on good faith”.

Responding to the feedback from Mr Mahama’s supporters in another Facebook post, Mr Yankah, who is the founder of the African University College of Communications (AUCC), said: “Democracy, freedom of expression and the national good. It's a test of our ability to make progress while we debate that has been exhibited since my last post. I am familiar with critical expressions of one's opinion; that is the virtue of living in a free society.

“My practice has been to ignore insulting, unproductive and discourteous remarks, most of which are borne out of ignorance, disregard or disrespect of other people's opinions, and a total lack of understanding of the issues at stake. My long experience with communication teaches me that insults have never won an argument, let alone an election.”