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Deputy Trade Minister apologises for 'whining' comments

He said that his comments were not meant to offend Ghanaians.

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The Deputy Minister was speaking at an event organised by the diaspora community held at the Accra International Conference Centre.

He said the diaspora community must not always insist on seeing a minister or top government official before engaging in any meaningful business in Ghana.

“Nobody likes whiners, people that spend all the time whining really get on people’s nerves. So stop whining; stop saying this doesn’t work, that doesn’t work; please, we know it doesn’t work so stop whining all the time saying it doesn’t work. If it worked, you probably won’t be sitting there.”

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“It is not always that when you have to make a decision you have to see the minister, the deputy or every head; what is this thing, where did it come from?  Do you know how many people actually sit down and want to see the minister every day; hundreds of them,” he added.

His comments angered some participants at the forum. A member of the returnees, yet to be named, responded to the remarks in a similar fashion and tone.

“We came here to sit with the decision makers to help us formulate policies that will integrate us into the system, where are the decision makers, where are they, they are nowhere around here to listen to us."

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“...And this attitude and arrogance that we are whiners; really? Who travels 3000 miles to be a whiner, we could have been whiners from our constituency, we didn’t have to come here to whine. So this attitude has got to change.”

Some Ghanaians have also hit hard at the Deputy Minister for his comments, and he has since apologised.

“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,” a statement issued Thursday and signed by Mr. Ahomka-Lindsay noted.

Below is the full statement:

13th July 2017

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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 perseverance5. 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 You Tube: https://youtu.be/YbkQCoNgSBc

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.

Robert Ahomka-Lindsay.

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