Former Municipal Chief Executive for Ejisu-Juaben in the Ashanti Region under erstwhile Mahama Administration, Hon Yamoah Ponkoh says President Akufo-Addo’s carelessness in handling the Coronavirus pandemic is the cause of Sir John’s death.
The former NPP’s General Secretary who headed the Forestry Commission as CEO, died in Accra on Wednesday after reportedly testing positive for the virus.
According to Yamoah Ponko, the extreme desire for power by President Akufo-Addo at the expense of the lives of Ghanaians caused the death of the NPP stalwart, stressing he woefully failed to comply with the World Health Organization (WHO) safety protocols.
Speaking on Okay FM’s Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, Yamoah Ponkoh launched a hard verbal attack on President Akufo-Addo, describing him as “power-drunk” man.
He says “When I heard that Sir John has died it didn’t come to me as a surprise at all because we are not in normal times and with this COVID-19, even the WHO has outlined safety measures, but the ordinary African says they will not adhere to it. The ordinary African President, the ordinary African Head of State due to his desire for power will not work with the safety protocols. He is so full of lies,’’
He added “If Sir John died of COVID-19, then his family and loved ones should blame Akufo-Addo; yes, they should blame him. Nana Akufo-Addo has killed Sir John. This is because he is not complying with the safety protocols. He has turned the measures upside down,” he accused the President of Ghana.
“Henceforth, anyone who will contract the COVID-19 and dies of it, we should blame Nana Akufo-Addo; it is as simple as that. A time will come he will not find anybody to address them as fellow Ghanaians,” he declared.
“ . . Can’t we see that the country is becoming lawless? Are we going to sit down for a serious calamity to befall the entire country before we realize that we’re heading in the wrong direction? Everybody has seen what is going on that Nana Akufo-Addo and his Ministers are destroying the country. Akufo-Addo does not care about anybody else; he even told us ‘your own destiny is in your own hands . . . I wonder why he (President Akufo-Addo) will allow Ghanaians to go out to register their names, knowing how deadly coronavirus is when there is an existing voter’s register that could have been used for the election,” he fumed.
Just recently,there was a clear flouting of Covid-19 protocols when the NPP held its primaries to elect Parliamentary candidates for the upcoming 2020 elections.
He further accused the President of lying to Ghanaians after contracting loans in the name of the country from the World Bank and IMF with the sole purpose of putting measures in place to protect the citizens but has rather spent the money on needless ventures.
“Since the outbreak of the COVID-19, look at the money that Nana Akufo-Addo and Ofori-Atta have gone for in the name of the country to protect Ghanaians? Because he wants to retain power, he has asked everybody to go out to join in the queue and the social distancing protocol is non-existent. We have a government that has gone in for huge monies from the World Bank and IMF to protect Ghanaians but it is all a lie…
“Sir John is gone and some are also in the hospitals; have you seen how Jehovah God does things? Nana Akufo-Addo will collapse this country…if someone has predicted that Sir John will die in this manner, would have believed that prediction? We even heard that Dan Botwe and Matthew Opoku Prempeh are also suffering from the COVID-19 and we don’t know their current status; but you see, the ordinary Ghanaians that we politicians don’t have any regard for and take them for granted are rather alive…Because of power that Nana Akufo-Addo wants the entire population to perish,” he slammed.
The NDC’s stalwart continued by saying that even as Ghanaians mourn the death of Sir John, it is equally important to bear in mind the “negligence of duty and irresponsibility” on the part of the President in the wake of the COVID-19
“Nana Akufo-Addo wants to retain power and so doesn’t care if you lose your life and has allowed stupid things to go unchecked….God has given you the power to run the affairs of the country but if you take the people for granted and maltreat them, this is what happens. So even as we lament the departure of Sir John, we should think of ourselves,” he concluded.
