I have only one wife - Bawumia reacts to Ramatu story

The office of the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has reacted to reports suggesting that the Vice President has another wife named Ramatu.

According to the office, Dr Bawumia has only one wife in the person of Samira Bawumia with whom they have been married for the past 17 years even though his religion as a Muslim permits him to marry up to four wives.

The couple has four children, three boys and one girl.

In a statement issued on Friday, March 12, 2021 by the Spokesperson of the Vice President, Dr Gideon Boako, the public was therefore asked to "ignore the propaganda and deliberate falsehood."

How the Ramatu issue came about

On January 7, 2021, the then newly elected Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin when he was introducing the guests at the inauguration of President Akufo-Addo and Vice-President Bawumia mistakenly referred to the wife of the Vice-President, Mrs Samira Bawumia as "Ramatu."

When Mr Bagbin realised that he had made a mistake, he clarified the mistake and said it came as a result of what had been written for him.

The Speaker after realizing he mentioned a different name said; “oh this is the name I was given” and he corrected himself and subsequently went ahead and introduced Mrs Samira Bawumia.

After that incident, some media reports suggested the Vice-President had a second wife known as Ramatu who was unknown to the public.

Some reports went ahead to circulate a photograph of the said Ramatu.

On Tuesday March 9, 2021, when President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo presented the 2021 State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Parliament and it got to the section of the introduction of the guests in Parliament, some Members of Parliament from the Minority side in a chorused voice shouted "we want Ramatu" repeatedly when it was the turn of Mrs Samira Bawumia to be introduced.

This compelled the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Bagbin to respond to the Ramatu chants and said he does not know anyone who has a girlfriend called Ramatu.

"Honorable members, I don’t know which of you has a girlfriend called Ramatu but we don’t have any dignitary here called Ramatu,” Mr Bagbin said.

Since then, the speculation of the purported second wife of the Vice-President has deepened.

Read also: Bawumia couldn't propose directly when we first met - Samira Bawumia

Ignore fabricated Ramatu story

In the statement from the office of the Vice-President, it was explained that "the attention of the office of the Vice-President has been drawn to stories and pictures circulating of a woman supposedly named 'Ramatu' who is being claimed as a wife of the Vice-President."

"The office of the Vice-President wishes to inform the general public that the Vice-President, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has never met or seen this purported Ramatu let alone take her as a wife."

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"She is a figment of the imagination of people trying hard to tarnish the image of the Vice-President for their own purposes."

"For the avoidance of doubt, the Vice-President has only one wife, his dear Samira Bawumia and they have been married for 17 years even though his religion permits him to marry up to four wives."

"We ask the public to ignore the propaganda and deliberate falsehood," the statement said.

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In a radio interview in March 2020, the wife of the Vice President, Mrs Samira Bawumia revealed that Dr Mahamudu Bawumia could not propose directly to her when they first met.

Explaining how they met, Mrs Samira Bawumia said she completed the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in the year 2000.

"We [me and Dr Bawumia] met years later... we met through mutual friends," who introduced us and it was love at first sight.

According to her, Dr Bawumia was attracted to her the moment they first met and concluded he had met his soul mate, "a catch," she said amidst laughter when she appeared on the Ekosii Sen radio programme on Accra based Asempa FM on March 9, 2020], which was monitored by Graphic Online.

The couple has four children, three boys and one girl.

Mrs Bawumia was on the radio programme on that day to talk about a wide range of issues in line with the International Women's Day (IWD) [March 8] but in responding to a question from a listener who wanted to know how the couple met, she said Ghanaian men in general normally do not propose to their women and that is exactly what Dr Bawumia did when they met.

Speaking in the Twi language, Mrs Bawumia said Dr Bawumia had to beat about the bush but she [Samira] concluded he was interested in her when they first met, she said amidst laughter.

Writer's email: enoch.frimpong@graphic.com.gh 

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