The Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has withdrawn and apologised to the Minister for the Interior, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, over allegations of fraud in the ongoing security service recruitment exercise.
The apology followed a directive by the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Bernard Ahiafor, who referred the Minority Leader to the Privileges Committee for contempt after the Interior Minister accused him of making unsubstantiated claims.
Mr Afenyo-Markin had alleged that the engagement of a third-party IT firm in the recruitment process amounted to a scam and imposed high financial costs on applicants.
However, during proceedings in Parliament on Wednesday, 4 March, he formally retracted the comments and expressed regret.
“Mr Speaker, I will not do that to hurt him or tarnish his reputation, and if the text of my concern reflected so, it is hereby accordingly withdrawn. I assure you that concerns that will arise out of any matter shall be properly brought to his attention,” he stated.
In response, the Interior Minister accepted the apology but described the allegations as distressing.
“It is painful to be wrongly accused and be labelled differently from the intention that you have, especially when it is connected with heavy wrongdoing. I am heavily hurt and heavily worried, but who am I to say that I will not accept when my colleague comes to apologise? I accept it wholeheartedly. My plea is that, if it is possible, it should be expunged from our records so that it will be as though it never happened,” he said.
