The Minority in Parliament has described as 'spectacularly disgraceful', a plagiarised quote in President Akufo-Addo's inaugural address last Saturday.
In a statement signed by the Deputy Minority leader James Avedzi, Monday, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament (MPs) are demanding that the address be withdrawn and expunged from Parliamentary records.
The president at his inauguration Saturday in the capital Accra, told Ghanaians, “I ask you to be citizens not spectators; citizens not subjects...”
It turned out that these were the exact words used by former US President George W Bush. The words are actually being traced to another United States president, Woodrow Wilson.
President Akufo-Addo did not attribute the statement to anyone in his speech.
Social media has been set ablaze since it emerged that the statement is plagiarised.
Since the revelation that that portion of the speech was plagiarised, Director of Communication at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, has issued an apology.
But the Minority in Parliament will not let the matter rest. It has cast doubt over the ability of the NPP to fulfill its campaign promises if it cannot write a speech.
Read full speech
MINORITY CAUCUS OF PARLIAMENT DEMANDS WITHDRAWAL OF PRESIDENT NANA AKUFO-ADDO’S INAUGURAL ADDRESS AND FOR THE PRESIDENT TO TAKE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE EMBARRASSMENT HIS ACTION HAS BROUGHT UPON GHANA
On the 7th of January 2017, the newly elected President, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, delivered his Inaugural Speech as the fifth President of the Fourth Republic in consonance with the tenets of established protocols of the State.
However, it has emerged that upon a careful reading of the written text of the said speech, His Excellency, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo failed to publicly acknowledge certain key sources of material information as contained in the speech in question. Further scrutiny so far reveals that several paragraphs in President Nana Addo’s inaugural address contained word for word liftings from speeches ever presented by President John F. Kennedy, President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush Jnr. and President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Minority in Parliament like most well-meaning Ghanaians is deeply saddened and outraged by this development which has brought Ghana shame and subjected us to intense ridicule.
This monumental plagiarism scandal which has now assumed international dimensions with major global news networks including CNN, BBC, AlJazeera, Reuters, Washington Post, Metro News, Nairobi News, Vanguard of Nigeria and Yahoo News all casting Ghana in bad light has clearly tarnished the image of Ghana abroad and brought upon this great nation untold embarrassment never witnessed in the aftermath of a Presidential inauguration.
It is depressing to observe that the goodwill that Ghana had been enjoying within the international community since our successful December 7 election and transition all appear to have been squandered by this singular act of sloppy intellectual theft.
It is indeed shocking that for a presidential campaign that anchored its core message on competence and incorruptibility will on its first day in office fall short of its pledge in such a spectacularly disgraceful manner.
If the NPP Government cannot exhibit competence in writing its own speeches, how can we trust them to have the competence to fulfil their numerous promises to the electorate? If the NPP Government engages in intellectual property theft on its first day in office, how safe are the resources of this country that have been freshly placed in their care?
Even more worrying is further evidence of plagiarism now coming to the fore pointing to a consistent pattern on the part of President Nana Akufo-Addo dating back to his days as opposition leader. Another video also in circulation exposes how then Flagbearer Akufo-Addo lifts statements during his 2013 post-Supreme Court verdict address from Former US Vice President Al Gore's speech after the US Supreme Court verdict on that country's election dispute.
We urge President Nana Akufo-Addo and his speech writers to be original and realize that they have now formed a Government and it is expected of them to put a stop to this unfortunate practice as it will be very difficult to get away as they may have gotten away in time past. We also expect the new President to exercise diligence and circumspection before reading or signing anything put before him to avoid even more severe consequences to our dear nation.
Considering that this inaugural address was made before us in Parliament in compliance with the Constitution and same having been captured by the Hansard Department as part of the official records of Parliament, the Minority demands that the now infamous plagiarized inaugural address be withdrawn and expunged from Parliamentary records with liberty to resubmit another speech not tainted with fraud and reflecting all attributable sources.
The sanctity of Parliament must be respected and preserved and it is our expectation that the new Speaker of Parliament The Rt. Hon. Prof. Aaron Michael Oquaye who thankfully is an academic of some repute will better appreciate the full ramifications of what is before us.
We also wish to remind President Nana Akufo-Addo that Ghana operates an Executive Presidency as clearly stipulated in Articles 57 and 58 of the Constitution and therefore the apology of his Communications Director notwithstanding, we expect him to take personal responsibility and assure the good people of Ghana that he will take concrete steps to ensure that this nation is spared any similar embarrassment in future.
Ghanaians expect of their leaders to, at all times, defend the good image of Ghana, therefore, it is our hope that we will all take steps to mitigate and rescue Ghana - the black star of Africa from the web of ridicule that our nation is being subjected to all over the world and we must not fail them.
Issued in Parliament House on Monday, January 9, 2017, in the year of our Lord on behalf of the Minority Caucus and signed by:
Hon. James Klutse Avedzi
Deputy Minority Leader.
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
NDC SHOULDN,T WASTE OUR TIME. WE HAVE MORE IMPORTANT ISSUES TO SOLVE.
I want to hear a statement from the minority leader Haruna Iddrisu on this matter.
Tell him that even Atta Mills Ecominy comment was recorded at parliament
NDC in their arrogance best. They have so soon forgotten that they have been rejected by Ghanaians because of this and many other things.If I were you people I will be humble and observe and learn over a long period of time. Don't be in a hurry to score political points because you might face the wrath of the people. Face it, President Nana Addo has goodwill that has not been enjoyed by anyone in our recent history. Your ***barred word*** noises will soon die down when you evil misdeeds are revealed. Presidents Obama, Putin and many other great world leaders have been caught in this scandal in the past. These people will however be remembered by their achievements or failures and not by plagiarism. The NDC will forever be remembered for how you have looted the treasury. You should be more worried about that.
It sure must be a slow news day, otherwise, our "all of a sudden I got no corruption business to chase" MPs will be spending their time focusing on more constructive business that would get Ghana moving forward, but no, like the proverbial tse-tse fly, whose head is just "blood", they can't see far. According to their ilk, everyone should cite the relevant authority whenever one cites a proverb, no? Let's get serious and start behaving like discerning grownups. The asinine behavior must stop.
Are you going to apply the same rule to your minority leader? Dandru waka shagye.
This minority will be the bogus and ***barred word*** minority Ghana would ever had since 1992. Because this is the excellent and most powerful speech in the history of Ghana, you guys want it expunged. Wether its expunged or not from your records, it can never be expunged from our minds as the best speech in the history of Ghana.
Ndc is again depicting their ignorance to governance and I am happy cos this will keep them longer at opposition. By the way, expunge that of John mahama's 2013 speech first and allow this too to stay for four years before it be expunged. Speeches don't manage economy that's why NPP did not bother to refer you morons to that Kennedy speech stolen by mahama at that time. If you morons have opened the can of worms, then we love to enjoy with you.
You mean an excellent speech as was written and delivered be expunged from the Hansard because of two sentences not even attributable to the presidents mentioned. They also took the quotes from someone about 90 years ago. Expunge those two sentences from your minds but leave that excellent write up where it is. First take out Mahama's ***barred word*** speeches the latest being that speech so called state of the nation address which said nothing about the state of the nation he was leaving behind. You people are so disappointed it has made you ill.