Minister for Communication, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has denied making comments to suggest that the governing New Patriotic Party’s goal of capturing power in 2016, is to dominate all facets of governance to establish control.
The Communications Minister in an interview with Accra-based Asempa FM last month said in Akan Twi language “y’agye ye man” which directly translates to, “we have taken back our land,” in English.
This has been skewed to suggest the Communications Minister meant the governing New Patriotic Party have taken over the country as the real owners and will manage it according to their will.
But Ursula Owusu-Ekuful insists her comments were mischievously taken out of context.
During the interview, the Minister also stated, “We aren’t going to allow the NDC to ever come to power, over our dead bodies.
“Whatever opportunity they [NDC] had to govern in the past belongs to history but we are sounding a note of warning to them that they will never see power again. Ghana deserves quality leadership and not this bunch of incompetent people.”
These comments by the Minister were received with mixed reactions by the public with some people interpreting it differently.
A women’s group, Gratia Women of Substance Network also condemned the Minister’s utterances saying they were “reckless, backward, undemocratic and injurious.”
But speaking on Good Evening Ghana on Tuesday, Madam Owusu Ekuful said the people who interpreted her comments to mean “we are the real owners of the land” do not have a proper understanding of the Akan language she used.
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, however, insisted that the various policies rolled out by the Akufo-Addo administration are proof that the NPP has restored the country to a solid foundation.
“They interpreted it as the ‘real owners of the country are now in charge, but what I said is translated ‘we have restored our nation unto a firmer foundation’. When I started that interview, I did say that they are fond of putting words into people’s mouths and running with it because they’ve done it to me quite a few times.
“The policies that have been implemented by the NPP have moved this country unto a more solid foundation and all the indices indicate that but I have been in pain to demonstrate that. They didn’t interpret it properly because that is not what I said, even if you take that “Y’agye ye man” statement, it doesn’t mean that we are the real owners of the country so I don’t know who did the translation, maybe that person wasn’t a native Akan speaker because that is not what it meant,” she stated.
