Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the vice president and flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has retaliated against former president John Dramani Mahama for declining to participate in a face-to-face discussion with the Ghanaian public.
A comparable discussion between Bawumia and Mahama was demanded in Ghana during the height of the US presidential debate between former US President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Mahama has remained evasive about the challenge to a debate from Vice President Bawumia himself. Mahama, the former president, said a few days ago that he would not dispute the vice president because he “knows his level.”
Dr. Bawumia has now retaliated, mocking the former president by saying that he is scared of his record and is fleeing the debate like “small small chickens,” a metaphor that refers to Mahama’s pledge to encourage the raising of chickens.
“Mahama is saying that during his time, he did better than us, and I told him that if he really believes he has superior records, he should come for us to have a debate, a mano a mano, man to man. He should come for a debate; he should not be afraid,” Dr. Bawumia told a large crowd at Nkawkaw on Saturday. “But he is really afraid. He is afraid, so he is running away like nkoko nketenketen.” The phrase emanates from Mahama’s promise to promote the rearing of chickens among the youth by giving them a small number of chicks, which translates to “nkoko nketenketen.”
