Professor Cletus Dordornu in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show said the allegation of plagiarism against Akufo-Addo is saddening.

[contextly_sidebar id=”pNJyI0D10AJDdOAAORwaugmRCxUIRf9U”]“The issue about plagiarism has always been there. It was saddening. I would want to blame the President, but whoever supervised the writing of the speech should have made reference to theses people.”

President Akufo-Addo has come under pressure to fire some members of his communication team for supervising the writing of his inaugural speech that had portions of it lifted from a speech delivered by former President of the US, George Bush, but failed to credit them.

After the heavy criticisms over the weekend, the international media also fed on the news, a situation analysts say has brought shame to the President and the country.

While the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin in a Facebook post apologized for the incident, Economist, Professor Cletus Dordornu says the supervisors of the speech must be fired.

“I know many cases where because of plagiarism, PhD thesis were rejected. Because of plagiarism, a lot of shame has been brought to people. It would have been wonderful if those lines were acknowledged, it would have enriched the presentation. Generally, I remember from 1790 when the issues were taken very seriously, the Presidents removed their speech writers because it is like casting a slur on the President.”

Although the inauguration ceremony was characterized by many high points including the spirit of friendliness demonstrated among all former Presidents, and President Akufo-Addo reiterating his resolve to lead Ghana into a period of economic transformation and progress, the allegation of plagiarism appeared to have taken the shine out of the event, dominating discussions in various media spaces locally and abroad.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The Former President appeared to have snubbed the Accra Mayor when the latter hurried from behind to greet him while he motioned into the Parliament building on Thursday for President John Mahama’s last State of the Nation Address.

A section of the public had accused the former President of not handling the situation well, and thus embarrassing the Mayor.

Others said the Mayor called the action upon himself for breaking known diplomatic protocol by walking on the side of a VIP or attempting to engage him in a conversation while he moved on a red carpet.

Ahead of the dissolution of 6th Parliament of the 4th Republic and inauguration of the 7th Parliament, the Accra Mayor, who is also the Member of Parliament-elect for Ablekuma South, was seen in a rather hearty conversation with the Former President.

In what appeared to be an apology to the former President, the Mr. Vandepuije was seen giving some explanations to Mr Rawlings, after which the two were seen shaking hands and subsequently parting company.

Watch the video of what happened between the two on Thursday below:

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The two in a statement issued on Friday morning congratulated outgoing President, John Mahama for his effective leadership of Ghana over the years.

The statement added that, the duo will meet with some members of the incoming government and return to Kenya capital, Nairobi next week.

“While in Ghana, Mr. Odinga and his delegation will meet sections of the new administration. He will return to Nairobi early next week.”

About 11 heads of state and government including those of Togo, Gabon, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Zambia, Benin, Nigeria and Guinea will be in attendance.

The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Haile Mariam Dessalegn, has arrived in the country ahead of the event, which will have Ivorian President Alhassan Outtarra is special guest of honour.

Two vice-presidents, 13 government representatives, five international representatives of multilateral organisations, and a number of ex-presidents from the continent and other parts of the world are expected to grace the occasion.

Zimbabwe’s Morgan Tsvangirai and Uganda’s Kizza Besigye, are all expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony.

About 6,000 guests are expected to attend the ceremony with over 5,000 security officers deployed to enforce law and order at the venue.

President John Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will be hand over power to Nana Akufo-Addo Addo of the New Patriotic Party on January 7, 2017 after losing the December 7 general elections.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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Mr. Afriyie will attend on behalf of the government of Queen Elizabeth II.

A statement issued by the British High Commission in Accra, said Mr Afriyie’s visit “will strengthen and promote the existing trade relations between the two countries, putting partnership at the centre of bilateral relations. As well as meeting key members of the incoming administration, including the newly elected President himself.”

“Mr Afriyie will also meet members of the newly founded UK-Ghana Chamber of Commerce (UKGCC), leading businesses in Ghana, and infrastructure experts to discuss how the UK can support Ghana to achieve some of its long-term development goals.”

Adam Afriyie’s presence at the inauguration ceremony forms part of his 5-day visit to Ghana (5^th – 9^th January), that will see him chair discussions to underpin a deeper partnership centered on “UK expertise and Ghanaian capability”.

“The visit will help foster an even stronger relationship with the business community in Ghana. The UK is a global centre of excellence in many areas including: architecture; digital technologies and professional services such as cyber security; fintech and general consultancy services; academia; healthcare; renewable energy; oil and gas, and the mining supply chain,” the UK statement said.

According to the statement, Ghanaian businesses that partner with UK businesses will benefit greatly from the skills and technology transfer, economies of scale and access to innovative technologies which will help to create more jobs in Ghana.

It said the UK seeks to continue playing its crucial role in helping advance the economic development of Ghana as it swears into office a new President.

“British businesses see Ghana as a valuable investment base in West Africa, and many flagship UK companies are already flourishing here. But there is much more that can be done to promote the right business environment.”

“We hope that will lead to more vital investment, job creation and an expanding tax base, which can better enable the government to deliver essential public services.”

‘Ghana-UK relations’

Ghana is the UK’s fourth largest export market in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2015, two-way bilateral trade in goods and services totaled just over £1billion.

This however was a reduction by fully a third, from the peak figure of £1.5billion in 2012.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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