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ASEPA boss rebukes Kofi Bentil over ‘Bawumia deserves a fair hearing’ write-up
The Executive Director of the Alliance For Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), Mensah Thompson, has launched a scathing attack on the Vice President of IMANI Africa, Kofi Bentil, for advising Ghanaians to give the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, a fair hearing.
Kofi Bentil, in a write-up, entreated Ghanaians to give Dr. Bawumia a chance be the country’s next president as he has a lot to offer.
“Every man deserves a fair hearing. We gave President Mahama a chance to be President, the least we can do is give Dr Bawumia a fair and objective hearing. He is not President, and has never been President! I have no doubt he will be better! The VP position in Ghana, apart from standing in when the president is away (and he can’t make any serious decisions), is totally powerless! He is like an advisor! There’s a good reason Kwame Nkrumah refused to have a Vice President!”Mr. Bentil argued.
Several persons have hit hard at Mr. Bentil for making such remarks.
Mr. Thompson, in an open letter, criticized Kofi Bentil saying “what seems to be raising a lot of eyebrows and making people wonder if indeed that Facebook account truly belongs to the Kofi Bentil we all know is your assertion that because Dr. Bawumia has only been a Vice-President and not the President, we should absolve him of any blame of the misery and reckless misgovernance this country has been dragged through in the last 7 years. Senior, that is one hell of a stretch, from ”give to him a chance at least to you can’t blame him, he was only number 2.”
“Senior you are a lawyer of many years standing, you have been in the governance and policy space for quite some time, and you understand the workings of government more than many of us, with all due respect please give us a break!!! You cannot sell this narrative even to a toddler.”
The ASEPA Executive Director believes the Vice President of IMANI Africa is worsening things for the Vice President.
He advised Kofi Bentil to desist from insulting the sensibilities of Ghanaians, stating that the average voter is now more discerning.
“You cannot sell this narrative even to a toddler. For what it’s worth, you are even making things worse for the vice President. Senior, how low can you insult the sensibilities of Ghanaians? I think you need to give Ghanaians some inches senior, the average voter now is more than discerning and this certainly will be very hard to fly.”
Read below Mensah Thompson’s letter
Mensah Thompson of ASEPA writes….
OPEN LETTER TO KOFI BENTIL OF IMANI….
Dear Senior Kofi,
I hope this letter finds you well, I’m sure you are very much aware that you are one of the people I have so much respect for in the CSO space in Ghana and anytime we have had the opportunity to interact I have never hid that.
Senior, I have chanced on a couple of your commentary on Dr.Bawumia, I have looked through your posts on Facebook as well and the responses to your posts I’m sure have already given you an indication of your vile deviation from the principles of accountability that has characterized the work of IMANI over the years, one that inspired many of us to get into the space.
And this is the more reason why I feel obliged to respond to you, so that you don’t continue to let many of us who have been inspired by your many good years of service to this Country down.
Senior, the import of your argument in the last few months have been that at least we should give Dr.Bawumia a chance to redeem himself, that in itself it’s not a bad inclination, I mean everyone deserves a second chance at life, at love and even at leadership.
However, what seems to be raising a lot of eyebrows and making people wonder if indeed that Facebook account truly belongs to the Kofi Bentil we all know is your assertion that because Dr. Bawumia has only been a Vice-President and not the President we should absolve him of any blame of the misery and reckless mis-governance this Country has been dragged through in the last 7 years.
Senior, that is one hell of a stretch, from ”give to him a chance at least to you can’t blame him, he was only number 2.”
Senior you are a lawyer of many years standing, you have been in the governance and policy space for quite some time and you understand the workings of government more than many of us, with all due respect please give us a break!!! You cannot sell this narrative even to a toddler.
For what is worth you are even making things worse for the vice President. Senior, how do you even contemplate such a narrative when the same person you are talking about has chaired the Economic Management Team (EMT) and sat through cabinet for seven good years.
And all this while, he had an ambition to take over from his boss and he couldn’t influence any policy direction that could set this Country on a path of sustainable growth? Even when he knew that even the least failure from his boss would impact negatively on his ambition to succeed him and he watched on whiles such grave mess was exacted on Ghanaians, then what’s going to happen when we hand this Country to him with nothing else at stake?
Senior you have asserted that you trust that Dr. Bawumia would be better than his boss President Akufo-Addo, with all due respect if that assertion is true then Dr. Bawumia would be the most wicked and insensitive Vice President ever.
That he could do better but watched on while his boss ran this country into a ditch but he couldn’t complain, he couldn’t influence anything because he was just number two, that’s his excuse?
That he knows how to manage this economy on his own but he doesn’t know how to use the same knowledge to assist his boss manage the economy as Chairman of the Economic Management Team?
Senior how low can you insult the sensibilities of Ghanaians?
I think you need to give Ghanaians some inches senior, the average voter now is more than discerning and this certainly will be very hard to fly.
Senior Ghanaians have really suffered in the last seven years, i don’t know about you but all of us are reeling deeply from the mal-administration that has been visited on us by the President Akufo-Addo-Dr.Bawumia regime, from the closure of banks which led to loss of jobs, livelihoods and investments to the debt exchange program that wiped out every little liquidity and savings left in the economy.
Ghanaians have really paid the price for trusting people like you and the occupy Ghana folks who smelted the hell out of the Mahama regime and told us Akufo-Addo could do better.
The least some of you owe Ghanaians is an apology for misleading them in 2016, the likes of A-Plus, Manasseh Azure and many others have publicly apologized for their mis-direction, it, therefore, begs the question of why?
Why Kofi Bentil of all people, At the time when all his compatriots who he was on the streets with to bring the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government to power are apologizing, that is when our dear brother Kofi has ignited his 100HP twin-engine, spearheading another mid-direction, misleading and vain propaganda ostensibly to drag this Country through another four years of plain misery in the hands of the same people…
Why Kofi, why??
Mensah Thompson
Executive Director, ASEPA
Source: Citinewsroom.com
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Focus on more pressing issues like Galamsey, not hate speech – Ellen Ama Daaku to Mahama
An aide to former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia,Ellen Ama Daaku has advised President John Dramani Mahama to shift his attention from social media hate speech to more urgent national issues such as illegal mining.
Speaking in an interview, she noted that the President’s recent comments about tracking the IP addresses of people who spread hate speech were unnecessary.
According to her, President Mahama must first define what he considers to be hate speech before seeking to punish people for it.
Ms. Daaku argued that the President himself had benefitted from hate speech and social media attacks in the past when he was in opposition.
She said even during his time in government, he described his opponents and their tribesmen in unpalatable terms, which later drew complaints from former President Nana Akufo-Addo to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
She stressed that harsh criticism of leaders on social media should not automatically be considered hate speech, adding that former leaders, including former President Nana Akufo-Addo had all been subjected to it.
“He is only feeling what Nana Akufo-Addo went through for eight years,” she remarked.
While acknowledging the need to regulate misconduct online, Ms. Daaku insisted that going after social media activists should not be a priority.
She noted that many political activists, including herself, had been insulted and attacked online but never called for arrests.
She concluded that President Mahama should focus his energy on solving pressing problems such as galamsey and the economy instead of concentrating on critics on social media.
By: Jacob Aggrey
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Prof Alidu Seidu files nomination for Tamale Central seat
The newly elected parliamentary candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Tamale Central, Prof Alidu Seidu, has submitted his nomination forms to the Electoral Commission.
As of 10:00 a.m. today, he was the only person who had filed to contest the seat.
Nomination of candidates will close at the end of the day.
Associate Professor and Head of the Political Science Department at the University of Ghana Legon, Prof. Alidu Seidu won the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary primaries in the Tamale Central constituency with a landslide victory.
The elections, supervised by the party’s Elections and IT Directorate in the Northern Region, saw Prof. Seidu poll 840 votes out of the total valid ballots cast.
His closest contender, Lawyer Hanan Gundadow Abdul-Rahaman, secured 536 votes.
The other aspirants could not make significant gains, with Dr. Seidu Fiter obtaining 44 votes, Aliu Abdul-Hamid 23 votes, and the rest recording fewer than 10 votes each.
In all, 1,500 ballots were cast, with 6 ballots rejected and 7 spoilt ballots recorded.
The results were signed and declared by Dr. Arnold Mashud Abukari, NDC Northern Regional Director of Elections and IT.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) held parliamentary primaries in Tamale Central to choose a candidate for the upcoming by-election following the death of the sitting Member of Parliament, Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed. Dr. Mohammed, who also served as Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, tragically died in a military helicopter crash in the Adansi Akrofuom District on August 6, 2025, alongside seven others.
His passing left the Tamale Central seat vacant, as required by Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
The Electoral Commission has scheduled the by-election for September 30, 2025. While the NDC moved quickly to open nominations and vet aspirants, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) announced it would not contest the seat, citing the need to respect the somber circumstances and promote national unity.
By: Jacob Aggrey
