Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo faced some backlash after he plagiarized passages from former President Bill Clinton’s and former President George W. Bush’s speeches.
People on social media noticed the similarities between Akufo-Addo’s speech and the speeches of the two former U.S. presidents shortly after his swearing-in ceremony, The Washington Post reported.
The first passage came from Bush’s 2001 speech, where Akufo-Addo said, “I ask you to be citizens: citizens, not spectators; citizens, not subjects; responsible citizens building your communities and our nation.”
Bush had said in his speech: “I ask you to be citizens: citizens, not spectators; citizens, not subjects; responsible citizens building communities of service and a nation of character.”
The second passage came from Clinton’s 1993 speech, except he replaced “Americans” with “Ghanians.”
“Though our challenges are fearsome, so are our strengths. Ghanaians have ever been a restless, questing, hopeful people. And we must bring to our task today the vision and will of those who came before us,” Akufo-Addo said.
Clinton said in 1993: “Though our challenges are fearsome, so are our strengths. And Americans have ever been a restless, questing, hopeful people. We must bring to our task today the vision and will of those who come before us.”
Akufo-Addo’s communications director apologized for the blunder, according to Al-Jazeera. “I unreservedly apologise for the non-acknowledgement of this quote to the original author. It was a complete oversight, and never deliberate,” he said.
Akufo-Addo isn’t the first president to plagiarize a speech from a U.S. president.
In September, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari plagiarized quotes from President Barack Obama.
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