Minister of Communications and Digitization-designate, Ursula Owusu Ekuful has vehemently defended her description of Minority Members of Parliament as having taken leave of their senses.
She gave this description when the minority decided to boycott President Akufo-Addo’s State of the Nation Address in February 2020.
Appearing before Parliament’s Appointment Committee today Monday, February 15, 2021, having been renominated for the same position in the President’s second term government, she was asked by the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa whether she did not believe she owes the Minority an apology over her utterance.
Reacting to the Minister's question, the former Minister of Communications averred that without situating her statement in context, one is likely to believe the assertions of Mr. Ablakwa.
However, according to Madam Ekuful, her statement was prefixed with “as if” and was also mitigated with “excuse me to say” and therefore may not directly imply that she sought to describe the opposition MPs as being senseless.
“If you listen to the footage and you do not situate what you are saying into context, then maybe what the member is saying could be justified. But what I said was ‘it looks as if they have taken leave of their senses, excuse me to say.”
Asked by the Chairman of the Committee if she was willing to apologise for her statement, the nominee reiterated that she may have been taken out of context but said she is sorry to anyone who may have taken offence from her statement.
“No offence was meant, if offence was taken, I apologise.”
She went on to justify that she was only seeking to describe the conduct of the Minority MPs and that it was her opinion.
“It says so clearly, it looks as if, it doesn’t mean you have and I have said so again that no offence was meant. It is a description of the conduct and I am entitled to my opinion as well, with all due respect.”
The Minority side of Parliament on February 20, 2020, walked out of the Chamber of the house right after the President arrived and had been greeted with the National Anthem.
Clad in black, they moved out repeating a part of the anthem that says 'and help us to resist oppressors rule with all our will and might forevermore'. Members of the majority side, however, sent off their colleagues with chants of 'away'.
Speaking on the matter in an interview, Madam Owusu-Ekuful without mincing words, said the decision by the Minority Members to boycott the proceedings was senseless.
“If indeed the president had said something offensive which they were reacting to, it would have been understood,” she said on JoyNews.
“But staging a walkout which is uncalled for, totally without reason, it looks as if they’ve taken leave of their senses; excuse me to say. Particularly when their leadership also indulges in this completely unnecessary and senseless exercise…”
