Award-winning actress and movie producer Yvonne Nelson, says she regrets congratulating President Akufo-Addo after he emerged victorious in the 2016 general election.
She explained that the posture of Nana Akufo-Addo then an opposition leader as compared to now, has completely changed, adding he turned out to be a disappointment after failing to deliver on his promises.
“I certainly do not wish to associate with a politician who is projected as one thing but becomes the polar opposite of that when elected into office,” she said.
Yvonne Nelson made these statements in her recent memoir titled “I Am Not Yvonne Nelson”.
According to the actress, Ghanaians believed in President Akufo-Addo to restore the country and stabilise the economy after facing difficulties of power crisis [‘dumsor’] under the John Mahama administration.
She asserted that President Akufo-Addo, who was presented as a conscientious leader to fight against corruption has failed on his mandate.
“Akufo-Addo came to the presidency with enormous goodwill. He had been projected as a no-nonsense disciplinarian who would not hesitate to crack the whip on errant appointees. He was said to be incorruptible, and Ghanaians thought he was going to be the antidote to mass stealing at the highest level, which is euphemised as corruption.”
“Unfortunately for Ghana and those who trusted in him, he has turned out to be a monumental disappointment whose government’s unbridled borrowing, corruption and reckless spending plunged the nation into an economic dumsor,” the actress stated.
Following this, Yvonne noted that Ghanaians lost hope in the Akufo-Addo government which resulted in the party nearly losing the parliamentary election.
In 2015, the actress was seen to be a major activist in speaking up against the power crisis known as ‘dumsor’ under the John Mahama government.
She organised a massive protest with the hashtag #DumsorMustStop with celebrities in the art and entertainment industry, and leaders in the political space with the aim of calling on the government to fix the power crisis.
With that, many political critics deemed her activism as a major role resulting in President Akufo-Addo’s victory in the 2016 general election.
On the back of this, the movie producer revealed that she was contacted by an influential person close to the presidency who sought to sponsor her to contest for the Ayawaso West Wuogon parliamentary seat prior to the 2020 polls.
“The NPP had lost its MP for the area and one of the “wives” of the late MP won the by-election in 2019. The by-election was characterised by violence and resulted in the formation of a commission of enquiry to investigate it.
“She was lacing her boots to contest the seat in 2020. When I drew the attention of the emissary to the fact that the party already had a candidate, he said the fact that he was contacting me meant that they had concluded their plans and would do everything within their power to pave the way for me to contest if only I was interested,” Yvonne Nelson said.