Did Akufo-Addo plagiarize portions of his 8th coronavirus address to the nation?

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo may have plagiarized a phrase in his eighth Coronavirus address to the nation.

The phrase “The virus is the enemy and not one another” which the president used without any credit appears to have come out of an interview the Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer, granted American Broadcasting Company (ABC) earlier.

Plagiarism in academia is classified as fraud in many places and is otherwise unethical.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in his inaugural address of 7 January, 2017, similarly appeared to have plagiarized speeches of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, which then became the talk of the town.

"I ask you to be citizens: citizens, not spectators; citizens, not subjects; responsible citizens building your communities and our nation. Let us work until the work is done," the president said in his inaugural address to Parliament.

Checks revealed that the above words were contained in the 2001 inaugural speech of George W. Bush, when he was elected as the president of the United States.

Another aspect of Akufo-Addo’s inaugural speech where he admonished the people of Ghana to believe in their strengths in tackling challenges were lifted verbatim from Bill Clinton’s 1993 inaugural speech. The only difference in the said inaugural speech was where ‘Americans’ were replaced with ‘Ghanaians’.

"Though our challenges are fearsome, so are our strengths. Ghanaians have ever been a restless, questing, hopeful people..." President Akufo-Addo said in his inaugural address.

Many have criticized the president after his eighth recorded address to the nation, on measures his government has taken to combat the spread of the COVID-19.

The president's speechwriters must avoid these basic problems.



Watch below the full videos of Gov. Whitmer & President Akufo-Addo



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