Pressure group, OccupyGhana, is demanding an unqualified apology from Ghana’s High Commissioner to South Africa, George Ayisi Boteng, who in a recent comment said he will always treat members of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) as his priority, because they are more Ghanaian than others.
Mr. Ayisi Boateng’s comment has been widely criticized with many calling on the President to sack him with immediate effect.
OccupyGhana in a statement also urged the government to publicly denounce the statement and dissociate itself from it.
[contextly_sidebar id=”ppGxFSQWAllL5r8bcELrKRjZBKfQ6dG5″]“We demand from Mr. Ayisi Boateng an unqualified apology to the people of Ghana for both his appalling initial comments and his subsequent statement expressing lack of remorse. We call on the NPP and the government to denounce the statement and demand a full retraction and apology,” the statement said.
OccupyGhana said the President should sack the diplomat immediately if he refuses to apologize.
“If he should fail or refuse to do that, then we respectfully and humbly call on the President to remove Mr. Ayisi Boateng from office as High Commissioner.”
Mr. Ayisi Boateng has been in the news for saying that his first priority is to members of the NPP, and that if he had his own way, members of the party’s Tertiary Students’ Confederacy Network (TESCON) will be prioritized for various jobs.
“…this government is doing its best to create job opportunities and me for instance, I told my people over there [that], it is because of NPP that I’m here, so the NPP man is my priority. I told them when NDC was in power it was Kwesi Ahwoi who was there, now we are in power, so Ayisi-Boateng is here with you. My topmost priority is the problems of an NPP person before any other Ghanaian, take it or leave it,” he said.
OccupyGhana said “we cannot condone such statements, and we condemn them in no uncertain terms as unbefitting of an envoy and holder of a high privileged diplomatic office.”
“We also condemn the statement made by the acting NPP Chairman, Mr. Freddie Blay, that suggested support for Mr. Ayisi Boateng’s position.
Below is the full statement from OccupyGhana:
1st NOVEMBER 2017
OCCUPYGHANA® PRESS STATEMENT
OCCUPYGHANA® DEMANDS AN UNQUALIFIED APOLOGY FROM MR. GEORGE AYISI BOATENG OR IN THE ALTERNATIVE HIS REMOVAL FROM OFFICE
OccupyGhana® is disgusted and appalled by High Commissioner George Ayisi Boateng’s discriminatory comments that pitched partisan interests above those of other Ghanaians. We are even more shocked by his unrepentant expression of lack of remorse in the face of the massive expressions of disappointment at his divisive comments.
We do not have to remind the High Commissioner that as a public officer of his standing, he is required to speak both with honour and from a patriotic disposition. He has failed in this regard.
We do not have to remind the High Commissioner that he must operate above party cronyism and the prioritization of partisan interests above the supreme interests of the Ghanaian people. He has failed in this regard.
We do not have to remind the High Commissioner that his comments run counter to the theme of his own party’s Manifesto: “An Agenda for Change. Creating Prosperity & Equal Opportunities for All.” He has failed in this regard too.
We cannot condone such statements, and we condemn them in no uncertain terms as unbefitting of an envoy and holder of a high privileged diplomatic office.
We also condemn the statement made by the Acting NPP Chairman, Mr. Freddie Blay that suggested support for Mr. Ayisi Boateng’s position.
We demand from Mr. Ayisi Boateng an unqualified apology to the people of Ghana for both his appalling initial comments and his subsequent statement expressing lack of remorse. We call on the NPP and the government to denounce the statement and demand a full retraction and apology.
If he should fail or refuse to do that, then we respectfully and humbly call on the President to remove Mr Ayisi Boateng from office as High Commissioner.
Yours, for God & Country,
OccupyGhana®
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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin