[ 2014-08-16 ]

'Spio Was Evasive'
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Sunyani east,
Kwasi Ameyaw Kyeremeh has stated the
Minister-designate for Trade and Industry, Ekwow
Spio-Garbrah was largely “evasive” in his
answers during the six-hour vetting on Wednesday.

Speaking to Joy Fm after the vetting, Mr. Kyeremeh
said the nominee refused to give categorical
answers.

When the NPP MP asked the nominee about his 'Team
B' ministers' mantra as published in a newspaper,
Mr Spio-Garbrah said he was expecting that
question and that the issue had been taken out of
context and given a propaganda twist.

Instead of admitting the statement, the nominee
parried it, saying he never described the
ministers as

'Team B' ministers but as a communication and
public relations expert he was only conveying the
public sentiments about the National Democratic
Congress (NDC) government under the leadership of
President Atta Mills to those at the helm of
affairs.

He said his views were deliberately twisted for
propaganda, explaining that 'I was reporting on
what I had heard on radio about some members
referring to ministers as Team A and Team B.

'If one were reading this article carefully you'll
reach the conclusion that Ekwow Spio-Garbrah has
not said that all members of the government are
Team A or Team B; neither has he said that any
member of the government was Team A or Team B,' he
stated.

Mr Ameyaw-Kyeremehis said Spio's sudden somersault
was a simple lesson to all politicians: “Don't
open your mouth too wide.”

The Sunyani East MP believed the nominee was
forced to eat back his own words.

Baba Jamal, Deputy Minister of Labour and
Employment, wondered how the nominee would now
relate to the same ministers he had early on
described as Team B, an indication that the
apology Spio claimed he offered did not go down
well with the affected people.

According to Jamal, the minister-designate will
struggle to work with other ministers in the
Mahama led administration because of the Team B
comment.

Baba Jamal said the apology would do very little
to enhance the strained relationship that exists
between him and other appointees in the National
Democratic Congress (NDC) government.

'He has apologised but not everyone has forgiven
him. How is he going to work with the people he
referred to as 'Team B' because some will not
accept his apology? How can he want to be part of
a 'Team B' that worked to retain the government
that he now wants to be part of?' the Akwatia MP
quizzed in an interview with the local media.

Source - Daily Guide

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