Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Member of Parliament for Suame constituency, has accused the chairman of the National Democratic Congress, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, of engaging in politics of personal attacks with his veiled statement which implicitly meant that the Vice President and presidential aspirant of the New Patriotic Party was a liar.
Speaking in an Okay FM interview, the former Majority Leader condemned Asiedu Nketiah‘s statement, noting that politics in the country should evolve from such personal attacks.
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu conceded that despite Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s failure to fulfill promises he made to Ghanaians, tagging him a liar is out of line as it is an attack on his person.
He justified his viewpoint by asking if it would be fair to brand John Dramani Mahama as a liar due to the failure of his government to fulfill all the promises he made to Ghanaians.
“Before Mahama came to power, he promised to solve the power issues within one month, but we faced power challenges under him. So, does that make him a liar? If I make a promise and I’m unable to fulfill it, it doesn’t make me a liar.
You need to understand the circumstances that led to me not being able to fulfill my promises. We can’t manage the country with these personal attacks. What you have to do is tell the people what you can do for them. Bawumia is a Vice President, not a president.
“When Mahama was Mills’ vice, he made a statement that he is the luckiest veep because even though the constitution does not assign any role to the vice president, he was actively involved in the governance of the country. Does it mean we should blame him for the ills of the Mills government? Mahama promised to build 10,000 houses in the country, but it never materialized. Does it make Mahama a liar?” he quizzed.
Asiedu Nketiah, in an interview with C TV, stated categorically that his party has decided that Mahama would not engage in any form of debate with Bawumia.
“The NDC that I’m a national chairman of has said that President Mahama should not engage Bawumia in any debate, in any shape or form,” he said in Twi.
The NDC national chairman explained that the party’s decision is based on the grounds that any debate with a “fool” would have no meaningful outcome.
He added that debating with liars is also an exercise in futility.
“There are two things that I have learnt from philosophy, which have guided the way I do politics. There are two categories of people that any sensible person should not debate; one is the fool or an idiot. Never argue with the fool because people would never know the difference. I hope it does not apply to His Excellency the Vice President because I don’t know him to be a fool.
“Number 2, never argue with a liar, you can’t win because they believe in their own lies. It is like wrestling with a swine in the mud, it would pull you into it (the mud).”
Leading figures of the NPP have said that former President Mahama is afraid of debating Bawumia because he is afraid he would be badly beaten.
The flagbearer, who is also the Vice President of the Republic, has himself said that Mahama is avoiding a debate with him out of fear of being exposed.
“I am looking forward to a debate with John Mahama on the economy and governance, but he is running away from a debate. His people say he doesn’t want to debate because he knows that I will expose the emptiness of his policies,” Bawumia said.
