Ghanaian students stranded in Ukraine
E-Levy before parliament
Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo Markin, is unhappy about media reports on Thursday, February 24, 2022, that suggest he made a case for the approval of the E-Levy on the back of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Many media houses reported that Afenyo Markin justified the E-Levy on the basis that current tensions in Ukraine and Russia may affect Ghana for which reason Minority and Ghanaians need to accept their proposal.
Reports further suggested that the revenue from the levy will aid government run the affairs of the country following possible rippling effects of the crisis on global economies, and also noted that it would help evacuate many Ghanaians stranded in Ukraine.
Reacting to this on the floor of Parliament on Friday, February 25, 2022, Afenyo Markin expressed disappointment about the development, whilst bashing media houses over what he says is the misinterpretation of his thoughts.
“I have not said that I will never say that and the full tape of what I said is still there. Unfortunately, a lot of online platforms have carried it…People reading and ridiculing my thoughts, we can’t be doing this.
“Then we mess each other up and then people take us up and then people take us up that politicians are not serious, we just get up and say anything. Mr. Speaker, I’m not perfect but I’m always careful about things I say. If I’m not sure, I won’t say them. I may slip, but I’m likely not to easily slip. I’m very careful about things I say,” he said.
The obviously upset MP appealed that the story be pulled down and the accurate version be published accordingly.
Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Ghana’s foreign Ministry have urged students in Ukraine to seek shelter in their homes and other public places amidst tensions in the country.
Why Russia is going to war with Ukraine
While there had been tensions between Russia and Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, for a long time, the situation began getting out of control in early 2021.
In January last year, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, urged President Joe Biden of the United States to let Ukraine join NATO.
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This angered Russia, which started sending troops near its Ukraine border for "training exercises" in spring last year and increased it during autumn.
By December, the US began hyping up the deployment of the Russian troops and President Biden warned of severe sanctions if Russia invaded Ukraine.
Russia has demanded that the West gives a legally binding guarantee that NATO will not hold any military activity in eastern Europe and Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin claims Ukraine is a puppet of the West and was never a proper state anyway.
This is not the first time tensions between Russia and Ukraine has reached a boiling point. Russia had invaded Ukraine in 2014 when rebels backed by President Putin had seized large swathes of eastern Ukraine and have fought Ukraine's army since then.
At that time, Russia had annexed Crimea.
