'Mo Kwame Nkrumah' Comment: Dr Prempeh breaks silence on 2024 comments

Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the 2024 running mate to Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has responded to the “Mo Kwame Nkrumah” controversy, clarifying remarks he made about Ghana’s first president during his unveiling as the New Patriotic Party’s running mate in 2024.

It will be recalled that NAPO, as he is popularly known, stated at the event that no president, including Kwame Nkrumah, had outperformed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

"Since independence in 1957 till today, we’ve not had any president who has protected Ghana and moved the country forward like Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. I say from 1957 till today, you can bring your Kwame Nkrumah… no president has helped Ghana like Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo," he stated.

I did not mean to disrespect Kwame Nkrumah - NAPO apologises

These comments, in which he referred to Ghana’s first president as “your Nkrumah,” outraged many Ghanaians, who condemned him for what they saw as disrespect toward Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

Subsequently, NAPO issued an apology, explaining that it was not his intention to disrespect Ghana’s first president.

Fast forward to November 2025, the NPP’s 2024 running mate has clarified further that his earlier remark was taken out of context and completely misunderstood.

In an exclusive interview on JoyNews’ PM Express on Monday, November 24, 2025, he emphasised that the public misconstrued his comments, stressing that his words did not reflect his true intent.

If ghosts were still powerful, Nkrumah would have knocked you down – Mahama tells NAPO

He explained that the statement was made within a specific political moment and should not have been interpreted as an attempt to attack Ghana’s First President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

“At that time, you can’t go into the evidence, so I made a statement ‘mo Kwame Nkrumah’, and I subsequently had to go to Nkroful and speak to the chiefs there and explain the context in which the statement was made,” the former Manhyia South MP said.

He further stressed that political messages can be misinterpreted, and leaders should own up when misunderstandings arise, just as he did when it happened.

“Because in politics, if somebody misunderstands, misquotes, or you allow your communication to be misread or to be misunderstood, you have to own it. So, I owned it, and that is why I issued the statement,” he said.

Dr Opoku Prempeh likened his comment to football disagreements, emphasising that it was never intended as an attack on Kwame Nkrumah.

“Not that the context was wrong. I’m a die-hard fan of Kumasi Asante Kotoko. So, if I’m teasing Olympic supporters and I said ‘mo Oly fuo no’, I’m not really insulting Olympic fans. I’m just upping Kotoko fuo because I am one of them,” insisting that the Nkrumah reference had been “totally misunderstood.”

Watch the video below:

Exclusive: My “mo Kwame Nkrumah” statement was taken out of context and totally misunderstood

- Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, 2024 NPP running mate. #JoyNews #PMExpress pic.twitter.com/XyNm46GMuO

— JoyNews (@JoyNewsOnTV) November 24, 2025

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