GFD rejects Bagbin apology

Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations (GFD) says it found no remorse in the apology rendered by the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Bagbin, over “unsavoury” comments he made about persons living with disabilities (PLWDs).

The President of the Federation, Yaw Ofori Debrah, who spoke on Onua FM’s Yen Nsempa on Wednesday said members did not find an iota of regret in the apology of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer hopeful, for which reason they cannot accept same.

Mr. Bagbin on Tuesday rendered an apology to former Minister of Communication Dr Edward Omane Boamah, and former Minister for Chieftaincy Affairs, Dr Seidu Danaa, for making reference to their disabilities – stammering and visual impairment respectively – at a party meeting in the Volta Region.

But Mr. Debrah argued that a critical analysis of the apology shows Mr. Bagbin was not apologizing to them because he felt he was wrong but because he made the comments in public.

He maintained that further inferences from the apology depicts that he [Bagbin] was of no regret “as such we cannot accept that apology”.

Mr. Debrah explained that if a learned person like Alban Bagbin with a reputable position in governance could make such unsavoury comments, they were of the view that the honourable would utilize the opportunity to fully apologize for his comments.

He added that in 2000, Mr. Bagbin, then Minority Leader made similar comments to which he rendered an apology to the Ghana Association of the Blind after they demanded from him to do so.