Sports broadcaster Dan Kweku Yeboah, has refuted allegations suggesting that he harbours hatred for former President John Dramani Mahama.
The accusations arose from comments made by Yeboah regarding the former president's stance on abolishing ex-gratia payments.
Speaking in an interactive session on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo with Kwami Sefa Kayi on September 15, 2023, he expressed his astonishment at being labeled as a detractor of John Mahama by certain members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
He asserted that he holds no personal animosity towards the former president, despite divergent opinions on political matters.
The sports broadcaster posited that his remarks concerning former President Mahama's proposition to abolish ex-gratia payments were misconstrued as an expression of animosity, however, he said he stood by his position on the issue.
According to him, he has in times past praied John Mahama publicly more recently for his recent donation to ex-Black Queens goalkeeper Memunatu Sulemana.
He emphasized that such gestures, especially towards retired athletes who had served the nation during times of relatively modest remuneration, deserve recognition and applause.
On the issue of the donation he said: "He has done well and we need to applaud him, and the NDC people who came to comment on my page said that because I criticised Mahama over the ex-gratia issue I hate former president Mahama and I said no.
“I still stand by what I said about the ex-gratia," he stated emphasizing that Mahama promise to abolish it when elected could have been achieved years back.
"Professor Mills started the constitutional review and president Mahama succeeded him, so if he had a position of abolishing ex-gratia, that was the best time, because if he had continued with the constitutional review, that was the best opportunity for him to have taken away the ex-gratia from the constitution and he didn’t continue...
“So, I said that if he is willing to abolish it then he should make a commitment by bringing part of what he has taken already …so, saying this and the NDC foot soldiers really insulted me that I hate President Mahama because of speaking the truth.”
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