Veteran broadcaster, Kwaku Sintim-Misa (KSM) has raised concerns over the silence of Ghanaians regarding the actions of the Akufo-Addo government.
Speaking in the latest episode of his TalkShop programme, KSM said during former President John Dramani Mahama’s tenure, prominent Ghanaians and various agencies were vocal in their criticism, yet there seems to be a stark contrast today.
“Every one of you listening to me, we experienced the reign of John Mahama and I tell you, during the reign of John Mahama, that is when we saw citizens, not spectators… You’re my witness, under Mahama, we spoke,” KSM said. He recalled the outspoken nature of individuals like his friend Prof Martey, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, who famously questioned, “where are the wise men in this country?” in a call for intelligent and brave voices to speak up.
KSM said Mahama faced severe criticism, with his administration being synonymous with the term ‘dumsor’, a reference to the frequent power outages.
“During Mahama’s era, ‘dumsor’ was made to be something that is synonymous with his name. If you meet someone, you greet the person, ‘yɛ ma wo dumsor oo’ and the person would respond, ‘yaa Mahama’.”
KSM noted that, if Mahama had engaged in some of the actions attributed to the current government, the public outcry would have been relentless.
He used the example of an alleged purchase of a chair that travels alone in a V8 vehicle with the President to buttress his point.
“I can imagine, and all of you bear me witness, what would Ghanaians have said if Mahama had purchased a chair and that one chair would travel alone in a V8 wherever Mahama was going. What would we have said? We would have bashed Mahama and bashed and bashed and bashed, you’re my witness.”
KSM expressed his bewilderment at the current silence, contrasting it with the vocal dissent during Mahama’s time.
“But now that we are in the era of Nana Addo and it is happening, ‘koom yɛ’ – everyone is quiet.”
