The NDC presidential candidate for the 2024 elections, John Dramani Mahama, has accused Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of surreptitiously stealing his idea to construct mortuaries in Zongos.
The former president asserts that the Vice President’s sudden change of stance regarding the proposition to establish mortuaries in Muslim communities is nothing short of hypocrisy.
“We said we were going to provide special places so that Muslims can perform the rituals that are necessary and hurriedly go and do the burial. They started laughing at us…Recently, I saw the vice president attending a function to commission a mortuary for Muslims,” he said.
During the run-up to the 2020 general elections, Mahama and the NDC made a significant pledge to construct a minimum of 300 mortuaries in Zongo communities as part of their party’s manifesto. Mahama emphasized that these mortuaries would be integral to the NDC’s progressive initiatives for Zongos.
However, this manifesto promise faced strong opposition from Dr. Bawumia and the NPP, who deemed it ill-conceived. Dr. Bawumia, who aspires to lead the NPP in the 2024 elections, criticized the plan to build mortuaries, arguing that it lacked priority.
He firmly believes that education should take precedence over morgues as the primary concern for individuals residing in Muslim communities.
“Mortuaries are not the most important priority in Zongos; they need knowledge and education” he said on Asempa FM.
