French President Emmanuel Macron and his host President Akufo-Addo of Ghana after the bitter truth. Pic GhanaWeb

Adesina Idris

London, Dec. 4, 2017 (AltAfrika)-France President, Emmanuel Macron got much more than he bargained for during his one day state visit to Ghana last week as he was publicly told by his host, President Nana Akufo -Addo that the era when  African Leaders circumvent their culture and traditions and make policies in exchange for foreign aids were over.

A visibly uncomfortable Macron watched as Ghana President caused public stir, first with an apology before launching into the western countries including France.

Responding to a question from a French Journalist about human rights and foreign aids to Africa, Akufo-Addo said ” I hope the comment i am about to make will not offend the questioner too much and some people around here. I think there’s a fundamental misstatement of issue in the question. We can no longer continue to make policies for ourselves, our regions and our continent on the basis of whatever support the Western world or France or the European Union can give us. It will not work. It has not worked and it will not work”.

He added: “Our responsibility is to charter a path which is about how we can develop our nations ourselves. It is not right for a country like Ghana – 60 years after independence – to still have its health and education budgets being financed on the basis of the generosity of European tax-payers.”

His comments visibly made the France President uncomfortable, with his demeanor clearly depicting a man sitting on tenterhooks.

The video has since gone viral, having become a hot topic for debate on various social media platforms.