Minister-designate for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has stated that his comments following former President Akufo-Addo’s final State of the Nation Address (SONA) were not in bad taste.
The Ellembelle MP stated that the comments he made resonated with and represented Ghanaians’ views, so he cannot apologise for them.
The nominee was responding to a question posed by Minority Chief Whip Frank Annoh Dompreh during his appearance before the Vetting Committee on Monday, January 27, 2025.
The Minority Chief Whip and Nsawam Adoagiyire MP was asked if, given the opportunity, he would have communicated differently and apologised to the President; he declined and challenged the colleague MP to provide him with any better alternative words he (Dompreh) believed would have been better.
”I have enormous respect for President Akufo-Addo and any president that will occupy this highest seat of the land because the decisions they are confronted [with] are enormous and grave, and so I don’t take that lightly at all. As Deputy Minority Leader, I had a duty that day, and I believe those were words that resonated with the people of Ghana. If there were words that came out that sounded in any way disrespectful, I will regret it because the intention was never to disrespect the president at all. It was simply to talk about the government of the day…Obviously, there were very good things that were done that you can talk about that were right, obviously. But I was reflecting the views of the people of Ghana, who felt that they had gone through so much hardship, and that’s why the reference was to his government and not him.”
The NPP insisted and asked if the nominee would apologise; upon deep reflection that some of his words were harsh, he responded, saying, ‘’I think I have answered it very well that if there are words that can convey the exact things that I said that in your view are better words than what I said, then maybe you can give me, then another opportunity; I can use those words’’.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana