Mahama is the 'sakawa sod-cutting chief' - Kwamena Duncan

Central Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan has taken a swipe at former President and NDC flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama for labeling the sod-cutting of projects under President Akufo-Addo's administration as ''sakawa''.

Sakawa is a derogatory word used for fraudsters or fraudulent enterprises but the word has recently found its way into Ghana's political realm.

The word was first used by the former President when he shared an article which referred to Akyem people as "sakawa boys and grandpas" and it also got a feature in a Town Hall meeting organized by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Tuesday, September 15, 2020.

Delivering a speech at the event, Mr. Mahama claimed the sod-cutting for the commencement of some infrastructural projects by the President is a scam.

“If they come to your town to cut sod for a project ask them two questions, let them tell you if the project were captured under the 2020 budget or whether parliament has approved a loan for the project. If they’re unable to answer then it means the sod cutting is a scam, it’s because of the elections. It is sakawa or 419,” Mahama said.

But Kwamena Duncan, speaking on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo', called out the double standards of the NDC flagbearer.

He exposed Mr. Mahama saying the latter, even when he had been defeated in 2016, went ahead to cut sods before handing over to the next administration.

The Central Regional Minister chronicled events where Mr. Mahama in the transition period to hand over the reins of government to President Nana Akufo-Addo stopped at nothing to go on a sod-cutting spree saying "when President Mahama had lost power, he went to this University which has not been fully built by Akufo-Addo, is it Somanya or something, to cut sod with his wailing party losers. He had lost power but there is a transition period. This is the man; this is his nature. The very thing he's talking about, he has done it in volumes".

He asked Ghanaians to ignore the former President and his NDC, stressing he is untrustworthy and full of deception.

"This person (Mahama) turns round, when you have indeed a solid quarter to the end of your tenure so you become disabled, you become incapacitated. Three months, clear months; this is . . . bunkum."