Minority Leader and Effutu Member of Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has rejected claims that he described Presidential Staffer Nana Yaa Jantuah as a “nobody” during the presentation of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) petition to the Presidency, insisting his remarks have been deliberately twisted to undermine the party’s “Democracy Under Attack” protest.
Mr Afenyo-Markin has also ruled out apologising over the controversy, maintaining that he neither questioned Nana Yaa Jantuah’s competence nor disrespected her when she received the NPP’s petition on behalf of the Presidency.
Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on Monday, August 10, four days after the demonstration, the Effutu MP said his concern was that the Presidency had sent only Mrs Jantuah to receive a delegation made up of senior NPP figures.
“I wasn’t saying she does not qualify. I said ‘only you’. I underscored it by saying ‘with great respect’,” he explained.
Mr Afenyo-Markin acknowledged that he was “not perfect” but insisted he was conscious of his environment and would not deliberately belittle a representative of the Presidency.
“I don’t go out to be attacking or disrespecting people,” he said.
When host Moro Awudu suggested that he could apologise because Mrs Jantuah had reportedly taken offence at the remarks, Mr Afenyo-Markin declined.
He maintained that an apology would amount to accepting an interpretation of his comments which he said was inaccurate.
‘They Want to Take Away the Shine’
Mr Afenyo-Markin accused the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) of attempting to shift public attention from what he described as a successful and peaceful opposition demonstration.
“I think they had their own spinning machinery. They wanted to spin something to take away the shine from the day [given the] peaceful demonstration, issues well articulated, massive turnout,” he said.
According to him, attempts were made even before the demonstration to create confusion around the event.
He cited an earlier report by GTV suggesting that the demonstration would not take place, which was subsequently corrected.
“They tried all manner of spinning including using GTV with some fake news. That was all part of the strategy to disorganize us [but] that failed,” he alleged.
The Minority Leader said the NPP had instructed its supporters to cooperate fully with the Ghana Police Service throughout the demonstration, contributing to what he described as a peaceful event without any major incident.
“There was no single incident,” he stressed.
He commended the organising committee, led by Anthony Karbo and Henry Nana Boakye, for what he described as their “industry and hard work” in ensuring the protest was successfully executed.
“The police didn’t have anything to worry about. We finished, we dispersed,” he said.
‘They Manufactured Something Out of Nothing’
Mr Afenyo-Markin further accused the government of trying to manufacture a controversy around his interaction with Mrs Jantuah because attempts to disrupt the demonstration had failed.
“So, now, as a government, the only way out was now to manufacture something out of nothing. And, that, to me, is what they did,” he claimed.
He maintained that he would not allow the controversy to distract him or the NPP from the issues raised during the demonstration.
“I’m not going to respond to their agenda. I am old enough in this game to understand this game,” he said.
According to him, politicians must recognise when their opponents are attempting to push them into a particular narrative and avoid being distracted from their own agenda.
‘I Said Only You, Not Nobody’
During the programme, a recording of Mr Afenyo-Markin’s remarks at the August 6 demonstration was played.
He pointed to the recording as evidence that he never referred to Mrs Jantuah as a “nobody”.
His argument, he explained, was that given the composition of the NPP delegation, the Presidency should have sent a more senior government delegation to receive the petition alongside Mrs Jantuah.
At the time, Mr Afenyo-Markin described it as “disrespectful” for the Presidency to nominate only Mrs Jantuah to receive the petition.
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He argued that the Chief of Staff, a deputy Chief of Staff or another senior government official could have accompanied her.
The Minority Leader noted that he was present together with other senior NPP officials to present the petition and therefore expected a corresponding level of representation from the government.
He maintained that his criticism was directed at the Presidency’s choice of representation and not at Mrs Jantuah’s personality, competence or status.
