President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo does not go abroad with his presidential chair, according to Dr. Kabiru Mahama, a Technical Advisor in the Office of the Vice President.
Since practically all of the events Akufo-Addo visits in Ghana involve the presidential convoy, the chair has gained notoriety recently.
National Democratic Congress, or NDC, officials have repeatedly asserted that the chair has a V8 assigned to transport it.
In response, Dr. Mahama argued that the assertion was false and that the NDC had manipulated the situation for political gain.
We know that the president travels with his handlers and presidential staff members, therefore the misinformation about this presidential chair needs to cease. On November 1, 2022, he emphasised on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme, “If a president for grounds of national security…”
Dr. Mahama reacted as Randy Abbey questioned whether he was “justifying taking a special chair to a radio studio”:
“I’m defending the requirement that everything the president does—from what he eats to what he wears to what he sits on—be compared to national security standards.
Akufo-Addo was questioned as to why the same standards are not used when he travels outside of the nation. He replied, “Let me tell you why it may not be relevant outside Ghana, one; systems abroad are different.”
He cited Joe Biden, the American president, who brought his own fleet to the Queen’s funeral. Dr. Mahama emphasised, “That’s the American system,” and he added that despite their economic woes, the US would not compromise its security requirements.
