Demonstration rocks President in UK

Some Ghanaians living in the United Kingdom last Thursday demonstrated against comments made by President John Mahama to the effect that the economy back home was not as bad as what critics of the government portrayed it to be.

The group, which described itself as ‘concerned Ghanaians’, armed placards with inscriptions such as “Mahama, not all is well in Ghana”, “Mahama, stop the loot”, and “Mahama, fix the economy.”

The group picketed at Marriot Hotel Grosvenor Square in London, where President Mahama lodged, to express their grievances. 

In an attempt to woo Ghanaian investors in the Diaspora to support the local economy, President Mahama was reported to have said among other things that Ghanaians at home did not paint an accurate picture about the true state of the economy to their relatives abroad.

According to the group, the President's comments were insulting to their intelligence.

They were particularly incensed about what President Mahama was reported to have said which sought to give the impression that his critics exaggerated the state of the economy to compel Ghanaians in the UK to remit their relations and loved ones in Ghana.

A member of the group, Nana Ansah Obofuor, told the Daily Graphic via telephone that “we here in the UK feel insulted by what the President said and we do not need rocket science to tell us the bad state of affairs back in Ghana.”

President Mahama is in the UK to participate in a number of events. He met Queen Elizabeth II at the Buckingham Palace last Thursday. 

The meeting, which was held behind closed doors, was believed to have centred on Ghana’s democratic development and the Ebola epidemic in parts of West Africa.

Before meeting the queen, President Mahama addressed a parliamentary group in the House of Commons in London.