Nana Addo has no wisdom to unite people - Alhaji Banda

Former Council of State member, Alhaji Asuma Banda, has hit back at his critics for condemning him on his comments to the effect that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo can never be president of Ghana.

The astute businessman said on TV3’s Hot issues last week that the New Patriotic Party candidate who is seeking a third consecutive attempt at the Presidency will never be president.

“The truth is he [Nana Akufo-Addo] can never be president…you see, to be a President, you must have certain structure, intelligence. You see, people take certificate in University to be intelligent,” he said on the show.

He has received a lot of flak from the public, particularly members of the NPP, including the Deputy Communications Director, Anthony Abaryifa Karbo.

In a latest response to the criticisms, Alhaji Banda insists on his assertion, stating that he does not have any intention whatsoever to run down Nana Akufo-Addo who he said is one of his best friends.

“I cannot run him down. So what I want Ghanaians to understand is, yes I said it, what I meant was, the party [NPP] was falling apart. How can you lead a party that is not united? So I think the right word I was trying to use is he has no wisdom of bringing people together. That’s what I meant,” he said.

Speaking on his second appearance on Hot Issues to clarify his comments and also to discuss further the political parties and their personalities, Alhaji Banda said he has nothing against Nana Akufo-Addo as some people may perceive.

He said Akufo-Addo was the one he turned to for legal services in the Rawlings regime when his car was wrongfully confiscated and that “he didn’t charge me anything”. Again, he said when Nana Akufo-Addo got married, he organised a dinner for him at his residence.

Alhaji Banda said since his comments, he has heard that “even Akufo-Addo personally trying [sic] to say that if I couldn’t run my airline I should keep quiet. I don’t know if its true or hearsay.”

But he says he is unfazed by the criticisms and that he still stands by his earlier comment, adding “Akfuo-Addo, even if, which will not happen, Kufuor has chased his wife or he has chased Kufuor’s wife, when it comes to politics you forget about all these as a leader.”

“That was his [Nana Akufo-Addo’s] mistake, not only this term. You see, whether they like it or not, the former President Kufuor should have been the father of that Party because he’s passed through it before and they’ve discarded him and started doing things by themselves,” he said; adding that now that things have gone bad, they have gone to him but, “it’s too late. The crack in the wall is there.

The full interview will be televised on TV3 on Saturday, December 26 at 12:00 Noon