Uproar after Ghana’s president unveils monument in his honour

Ghana’s outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo is facing a backlash on social media after he unveiled a statue of himself during a tour of the country’s Western Region.

The monument is intended to honour the development initiatives the president has overseen whilst in office, the region’s minister Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah says.

But many Ghanaians have been mocking its installation – outside a hospital in the city of Sekondi – seeing it as “self glorification”.

“The people of the Western Region deserve better than these self-serving displays,” opposition MP Emmanuel Armah Kofi-Buah posted on X.

Akufo-Addo, who will be standing down in January after two terms in power, has boasted that he has fulfilled 80% of his promises to Ghanaians.

He unveiled the monument, prominently placed in front of Sekondi’s Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital, on Wednesday during his visit that has been dubbed a “thank-you tour”.

At the ceremony, Darko-Mensah, who oversees the Western Region, highlighted several key projects initiated under the president.

But the statue has sparked a wave of criticism, with some Ghanaians questioning its importance when several key projects remain incomplete.

“It would be admirable if the president had allowed posterity to recognise and appreciate his work,” an X user posted.

A section of the public is calling for the statue – photos of which have gone viral – to be pulled down after the president leaves office.

But not everyone is critical, with some seeing it as an acknowledgement of Akufo-Addo’s contributions to the development of the country.

“He is very deserving of this exquisite monument. The greatest president I’ve ever had. You will be missed by Ghanaians,” one person posted, adding that Akufo-Addo was the “founder of Ghana’s free education system”.

During his tour, the 80-year-old president has singled out his policy to scrap fees for secondary schools as his “most significant legacy”.

His visit has also fed into campaigning nationwide by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). Western Region, in the south-west, is one of 16 regions in the country.

The president urged people there to vote for his deputy, Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia, in next month’s general election.

He will be the NPP’s candidate and Akufo-Addo said a vote for him would see the continuation of the party’s policies and projects.

Bawumia’s main challenger will be former President John Dramani Mahama, who is seeking a comeback under the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The high cost of living is a key campaign issue in Ghana, Africa’s leading producer of gold.