NAPO’s handlers did a ‘terrible job’ - Atik Mohammed

Atik Mohammed has criticized the handlers of Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, accusing them of allowing their Vice Presidential Candidate to commit an embarrassing faux pas during his outdooring on Tuesday, July 9.

Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, widely known as NAPO, delivered his acceptance speech as the NPP Vice Presidential Candidate at a colorful event in Kumasi, where he took an awkward swipe at Ghana’s first President and the heroic figure behind the nation’s independence, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

Comparing the track records of previous governments with the Akufo-Addo administration, NAPO said, “Since independence from 1957 till today, we’ve not had any president that has helped Ghana like Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. I say from 1957 till today, you can bring your Kwame Nkrumah… no President has protected Ghana and moved the country forward like Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.”

These statements have been met with aggression from many Ghanaians, especially the Nkrumahist party, which demands an apology from NAPO and his subsequent removal as the NPP Running Mate.

“…the party calls on His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to withdraw the Hon. Minister from his position as Minister of Energy, and also calls on His Excellency Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to withdraw him as his Vice Presidential candidate, for the sake of the country’s image and its long-term political and economic fortunes. Ghanaians and Nkrumaists worldwide will have no choice but to hit the streets to register their displeasure if the above, or similar measures, are not immediately enforced within 24 hours,” the Convention People’s Party demanded in a press statement.

Reacting to the public gaffe by the immediate past Energy Minister, who is now the Running Mate to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, NPP presidential candidate, Atik opined that Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh’s “handlers did a terrible job.”

To him, they shouldn’t have allowed NAPO to speak without a script.

“He ought to have been scripted, but you allowed him to extemporize; extempore presentations are not easy. You can be good in many things, but when it comes to public speaking, that is also an art,” he said during Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” show.

Atik Mohammed, a former PNC General Secretary, argued that NAPO’s new position is a “unique distinction conferred on him” which demands a unique way of handling him.

He therefore cautioned NAPO to “rethink those handling him,” saying, “all eyes are now watching him in his sleep, when he’s eating, in fact, everything he does now is being monitored.”

He added, “You’re now under a microscope. He’s a scientist, I believe he understands; look, the minutest detail of what you do or don’t do is being monitored by people, and there are people whose prayers are that you will slip for them to find fault with you.”