Press Release
Wednesday: 15/04/2020
GENDER MINISTER MUST RETRACT AND APOLOGIZE TO JOHN MAHAMA OVER HER IRRESPONSIBLE COMMENTARY ON ASEMPA FM—NDC
The strength of a woman they say should not lie in a caustic tongue.
The Agona West Constituency Women’s wing of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has noted with grave concern the irresponsible, amateurish, disrespectful and uncultured comment passed by the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Madam Cynthia Morrison on Asempa FM’s Ekosiisen show hosted by Philip Osei Bonsu (OB) on Tuesday 14th April, 2020.
It is of no doubt that the Minister, who is also the Member of Parliament for Agona West Constituency, has in recent times been arrogant and disrespectful to every human being she has come across including her party’s leaders and members in the constituency.
In the interview on Asempa FM, she was heard claiming that Former President Mahama should have sought permission from her before going out to feed  the over 20,000 households on Tuesday 14th April, 2020.
Meanwhile, in her earlier comments on the same program, she admitted that some of her colleague NPP Members of Parliament have equally extended same gesture of which she doesn’t have any “control” over. With her colleague NPP MPs who come no where near Former President Mahama, she has no control over how they distribute their food items but with John Mahama, she [Cynthia Morrison] thinks she has to grant him permit before he can donate and feed the thousands of people who are out there starving due ill-thought through measures to contain the spread of the pandemic without any regard to social distancing protocols.
We find her sarcastic and satirical comment as irresponsible, reprehensible and insensitive in this difficult moment of the dreaded coronavirus rapidly spreading without an end in sight and the Minister didn’t have the humility to apologize to Ghanaians further endangering us for her ministry’s engaging in a state led disregard for social distancing in sharing food using the tax payers’ money and not NPP’s money.
Instead of addressing the critical issues of disregard for social distancing protocols and endangering all of us, the Hon Minister chose to subtly dabble in needless political rhetorics of casting aspersions against the NDC’s Flagbearer who was only responding to the huge cry of Ghanaians who are still not getting access to food that the tax payers’ money is being used to prepare.
The attitude of the Minister is most unfortunate and condemnable, the least Ghanaians deserve is humility, honesty and transparency in how the GHc2million of the tax payers’ money is being spent on vulnerable people under an haphazardly and belatedly implemented lockdown while majority of the people continue to appeal for food and other needs.
We are by this statement asking the Minister of Gender to retract her comment and apologize unreservedly to Former President Mahama and to change her attitude henceforth.
Once again, the strength of a woman they say should not lie in a caustic tongue.
SIGNED
MADAM COMFORT EKUAMOAH,
NDC DEPUTY WOMEN ORGANIZER,
AGONA WEST CONSTITUENCY
024 383 3063