A Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Robert Ahomka-Lindsay, has insisted that recent comments attributed to him about diasporans were not meant to offend anyone.
Mr. Ahomka-Lindsay’s speech at the Ghana Diaspora meeting in Accra, garnered lots of attention after he appeared to show displeasure at diasporans who ‘whined’ about everything they felt was not going well in the country.
“Nobody likes whiners, people that spend all the time whining really get on people’s nerves so stop whining,” the deputy Minister is quoted as having said.
Responding to the public backlash which followed the address, the Deputy Minister stated that the comments he made were as a result of his personal experience and was in no way an attack on diasporans.
“None of my comments were meant to cast aspersions. They were an expression of my personal experience,” the statement said.
“I wish to assure the people of Ghana and all those who have been offended by my comments that I did not in any way intend to sound offensive in my presentation.”
STATEMENT ON MY SPEECH ON DIASPORA MEETING
I refer to recent discussions on a 2 to 3-minute clip from my 14-minute speech given at the Ghana Diaspora meeting in Accra. The clip is a complete misrepresentation of the speech and taken completely out of context.
I was asked to give my candid opinion on my experience as a Diaspora returnee and how I would advise others who intend to make a similar journey. My speech was in 5 parts:
1. Your approach to trying to get results in Ghana
2. What you should expect when you make the move to Ghana
3. The opportunities available for you in Ghana
4. The rewards for perseverance
5. The next steps
The clip being shown referred to section 1 of the speech. Listening to it independent of the other three sections gives a completely different meaning to the speech I would implore all that want to get a true picture of my speech to look at it on YouTube.
None of my comments were meant to cast aspersions. They were an expression of my personal experience. I wish to assure the people of Ghana and all those who have been offended by my comments that I did not in any way intend to sound offensive in my presentation. I hold all Ghanaians in the greatest respect and would not in any way do or say anything that would impugn their integrity.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
