Kofi Tonto, an aide to former Vice President and 2024 NPP flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has mounted a strong defence of Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, insisting that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) will not allow its political opponents to dictate who speaks for its caucus in Parliament.
Mr Tonto was responding to NDC Communications Team member Hamza Sayibu Suhuyini during an appearance on Joy News’ AM Show, following criticism over Mr Afenyo-Markin’s frequent media engagements on behalf of the Minority.
Mr Suhuyini had questioned the practice, arguing that parliamentary press conferences are typically addressed by ranking members.
“First of all, it’s a lie,” Mr Tonto responded.
He argued that decisions concerning who speaks for the Minority were internal matters for the NPP and its parliamentary caucus, and not for political opponents to determine.
Mr Tonto said the NDC had previously made changes to its own parliamentary leadership without consulting the NPP and should therefore not attempt to interfere in how the opposition conducts its affairs.
“Did you come to consult us? You took your decision. How then do you have the effrontery, disrespect, arrogance which you continue to display? Now you Hamza want to determine who speaks for us in Parliament? Afenyo-Markin will speak today, tomorrow, and the day after. You can go to hell,” he said.
Tonto Backs Afenyo-Markin’s GoldBod Scrutiny
Mr Tonto also defended the Minority Leader’s scrutiny of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), arguing that Mr Afenyo-Markin was raising legitimate questions about the management of the country’s gold resources under the current administration.
He rejected suggestions that the Minority’s criticism of GoldBod was misplaced, maintaining that questions about the financial implications of the state gold trading programme deserved answers.
Mr Tonto cited Ghana’s gold reserves under the previous NPP administration, saying they increased from about 8.7 tonnes in 2017 to approximately 30 tonnes by the time the party left office.
“By the time we left, it had gone to 30 tonnes. Was that not an economic value?” he asked.
He accused the NDC administration of failing to manage the country’s gold resources efficiently and questioned arguments that GoldBod’s expanded operations justified reported losses associated with the programme.
According to him, the NDC had previously criticised the NPP government’s gold-related policies and promised to manage the sector more efficiently if elected.
“You criticized a policy, you went to the street and said the policy was implemented badly and that when given the chance you’d do it well. And now your argument is that you have scaled up. Who gives a damn, if you’ve scaled up?” he said.
“The promise was that you’d do it better, there’d no losses. Your promise was that there’s no reason you should sell gold and make losses, and now you are telling us that you have scaled up and that is the reason why you’ve made losses. Disgraceful,” Mr Tonto added.
He further argued that any losses associated with GoldBod’s operations could have implications for the financial position of the Bank of Ghana.
“This goes into the Bank of Ghana’s books and adds to the negative equity,” he said.
Mr Tonto maintained that the Minority would continue to scrutinise the government’s management of the country’s gold resources, while insisting that Mr Afenyo-Markin would not be silenced by criticism over his public engagements.
