Paul Yandoh, a former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ashanti Regional Communications Officer, has threatened to take his complaint against President John Dramani Mahama to social media commentator Barbara Asantewaa Kodua, popularly known as Ghana Jollof.
Yandoh said he was seeking what he described as justice after President Mahama allegedly referred to him as “ignorant” while responding to comments he made about the use of soldiers in road construction.
Speaking in an interview with Owia TV, excerpts of which have circulated on social media, Yandoh said he was exploring avenues through which his complaint could be addressed.
He said he was first looking to institutions responsible for dealing with what he described as the politics of insults to intervene.
“Right now, I am looking for the institutions responsible for politics of insults to report my case to them for them to handle it because, being in this region, the Regional Minister told the President to insult me,” he said.
“I am pained. If not, I will report him to Ghana Jollof,” he added.
The comments follow a recent exchange between Yandoh and President Mahama over the role of the Ghana Armed Forces in constructing the Accra-Kumasi Expressway.
During a radio discussion, Yandoh criticised the deployment of soldiers to assist with clearing the path for the expressway.
“Today, Ghana’s soldiers have stopped fighting wars.
“They no longer go on missions in Lebanon and other places. Now, Ghana’s soldiers are constructing roads,” he said.
President Mahama subsequently responded to the criticism while speaking at a ceremony to mark the handing over of the right-of-way for the expressway.
Although he did not mention Yandoh by name, the President appeared to be responding to the comments made by the NPP communicator.
“I heard one of the radio commentators say… soldiers are now constructing roads. I mean, he is ignorant,” Mahama said.
The President then cited an example from the PNDC era under former President Jerry John Rawlings, arguing that the Ghana Armed Forces had previously been deployed to undertake road construction projects.
“For those of us who were old enough in the PNDC era, when Rawlings decided to open up the Afram Plains, no civilian contractor could construct the Donkorkrom Road,” he said.
“It was the Ghana Armed Forces that were asked to go and open up the road to Donkorkrom and they accomplished the task,” he added.
Yandoh has now reacted to the President’s remarks, saying he intends to pursue the matter through the channels he considers appropriate and, if necessary, seek the intervention of Ghana Jollof.
His comments have added another dimension to the disagreement, which began with differing views over the use of military personnel in the construction of major road projects.
See the video below:
