Kofi Akpalu, a presidential hopeful for the 2024 elections, has criticized former President John Dramani Mahama for his comments regarding the disqualification of PNC' s Bernard Mornah from the upcoming elections. Mahama recently claimed that the Electoral Commission (EC) was discriminatory and that Mornah' s exclusion was unjust. He further suggested that the PNC was more qualified than many other political parties and independent candidates.
These remarks have stirred frustration among several candidates, including Akpalu, who felt that Mahama' s comments were both unfair and dismissive of the efforts of smaller parties.
During the EC' s Inter- Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting, Akpalu addressed Mahama' s remarks directly, stating that the former president' s privileged position within the largest opposition party— the National Democratic Congress (NDC)— has sheltered him from the challenges other candidates face when trying to qualify for the ballot.
" John Mahama is just lucky to be in the biggest opposition party in Ghana, " Akpalu said. " He has never gone through the struggle of filling the presidential form himself, so he has no business making such ill comments about those of us who have worked hard to be on the ballot paper. "
Akpalu went further to emphasize that filling out a presidential nomination form is a demanding task for many candidates, especially those from smaller parties. He suggested that Mahama' s remarks reflected a lack of empathy for those who come from less privileged backgrounds.
" There' s a law in the constitution that if someone has never attended school and doesn' t know how to write, they cannot become president, " Akpalu added, highlighting the importance of understanding the procedures and requirements to run for office.
He also made a personal reference to his own background. " I' m both Voltarian and Ashanti, and I didn' t choose that, it' s God' s will. So when John Mahama, who comes from a rich home, speaks this way, it' s as though he' s looking down on those of us from poorer homes. "
Akpalu concluded by warning that he and other candidates would not tolerate Mahama' s " intimidation. " He stressed that all presidential candidates, regardless of their party affiliation, deserved respect for the hard work they put in to get their names on the ballot.