Deputy Minister of Information Pius Hadzide has called on the general public to treat with contempt a news item by the Daily Post titled, “Akufo- Addo Unleashes Pius Hadzide on J.A Kufuor to denigrate the ex-President’s legacy.”

According to the Minister, the publication is false, “and is only a further attempt by a discredited newspaper to soil the good image of the President, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo and I and to cause enmity between the two venerable statesmen; John Agyekum Kufuor and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.”

In a press statement to address the publication, the Minister denied any attempt to bring disrepute to the legacy of the former president, and further denied the notion that the President had set him on that tangent.

Rather, he said, “it is the desire of the current administration to improve upon and safeguard the legacy of the high performing J.A. Kufour administration in which Nana Akufo Addo served with distinction.

“It cannot and will never be that I or anyone within the Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition will seek to belittle the legacy of the former President.”

According to Pius Hadzide, the publication is “clearly motivated by hatred and ill-will” and thus wants the general public to ignore it.

He added that, “It is only a deranged person who will seek to belittle the contribution of former President J.A. Kuffuor to the development of this country.

“Indeed, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has proven through Ex-president Kufour and President Akufo-Addo that it is the only party truly committed to and capable of delivering development to Ghana through the many policies it has implemented.”

He advised “the writer, the newspaper, and their paymasters and sponsors from within the National Democratic Congress to rather apply themselves and expend their resources on discussing and resolving the obvious cracks, bickering and divisions within their ranks as evidenced by the publication of a book by one of the advisors-in-chief to their Flagbearer John Mahama denigrating their Founder.”

According to the Minister the publication is false and described it as “everything journalism is not.”