It's ridiculous to give Bawumia national award after massive election defeat - Dwamena-Aboagye

Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, the Executive Director of The Ark Foundation and Chairperson of the Civic Forum Initiative, has expressed concern over the decision to award Vice President and New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the highest national honour following his significant loss in the 2024 presidential election.

Dr Bawumia, who was the NPP’s candidate in the election, received the Order of the Star of Ghana – Officer Award at the 2024 National Honours event on Monday, 30 December 2024, at the Accra International Conference Centre. The award recognised his contributions to fostering religious tolerance and promoting national unity.

While discussing the awards on JoyNews' Newsfile, Dwamena-Aboagye expressed her pleasure at seeing some individuals recognised for their contributions. However, she voiced her disappointment upon learning that several government appointees had been honoured, despite facing public criticism.

Dwamena-Aboagye pointed out the questionable timing and optics of awarding appointees in the wake of a significant electoral loss, noting, “When people are assessing you, especially in the time we were in when the elections had happened, there’s a massive vote against you, and you keep awarding appointee after appointee. Even if they deserved it, I think that the optics were not good, the underpinnings, the partisanship behind it.

She also raised concerns about the fairness of the selection process, questioning whether there were no deserving individuals with differing political views: “So, is there nobody deserving of an award who expresses an opposite view from yours, even though the person is also a citizen?”

Despite acknowledging Dr Bawumia’s significant achievements, Dwamena-Aboagye argued that the timing of the award undermined his credibility. “Nobody doubts that Dr Bawumia is a very accomplished person, his persona, his everything. I even heard he has an international appointment already. But when you give him the highest award when he has just lost massively, I mean, you put him into ridicule,” she concluded.

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