Director Of Communications At The Presidency – Eugene Arhin Apologises For President Akufo-Addo’s Plagiarism Scandal

The Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, has apologised to Ghanaians for the plagiarised content which was discovered in the inauguration speech of President Nana Akufo-Addo.

Nana Akufo-Addo’s speech, at a point, made reference to the need for citizens to be more involved in the governance process and not merely be spectators.

“I ask you to be citizens: citizens, not spectators; citizens, not subjects; responsible citizens building your communities and our nation. Let us work until the work is done,” The President said.

Those words are lifted verbatim from President George W. Bush’s inaugural speech in 2001.

A separate portion seems lifted from a similar Bill Clinton speech in 1993.

But Arhin, who has been appointed head of communications at the Presidency, apologised for the speech. In a statement, he noted it was an oversight, as other quoted statesmen had been properly cited.

“My attention has been drawn to references being made to a statement in the speech delivered by the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, at his swearing in on Saturday, January 7, 2017, which was not duly acknowledged.” he wrote.

“I unreservedly apologise for the non-acknowledgement of this quote to the original author. It was a complete oversight, and never deliberate. It is insightful to note that in the same speech were quotes from J.B Danquah, Dr. K.A. Busia, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and the Bible which were all duly attributed and acknowledged.|