A Private Legal Practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has criticised the Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party, Richard Ahiagbah, for downplaying the concerns of Ghanaians protesting the government amid the economic crisis.
Speaking on The Point of View on Citi TV on Monday, November 7, 2022, after Mr Ahiagbah described agitations against President Akufo-Addo as emotional, Mr. Kpebu, in response, said the NPP Communications Director should be receptive to feedback and not dismiss legitimate concerns.
âThis thing about emotion, you should stop talking about emotions. If you see evil, and you donât get emotional you are corrupt, you [NPP] have led the country astray.â
âOur savings, your money in the bank or under your bed, over 60 per cent of its value is gone, and you say people are being emotional, please tell that to the marines.â
âStop using that word, donât ever say that in public again, the more you say people are being emotional, the more people will come at youâĤ you communicate for the government so, at this stage, you have to be very humble and sober and stop telling people that they are being emotional.
âYou need to study emotional intelligence, you need empathy, you need self-consciousness, self-awareness,â Mr Kpebu said.
A recent poll by Global Info Analytics has indicated that 77 percent of Ghanaians believe the country is heading in the wrong direction.
This comes amid crippling inflation and fuel prices that have left many Ghanaians frustrated.
But Mr Ahiagbah downplayed the polls, maintaining that Ghanaâs economic crisis has external causes because âthe whole world is not going in the right direction.â
âI think polling in this environment is biased, to begin with, because peopleâs emotions are in a certain place, so you are going to get a predictable outcome.â
âWhat is really of consequence is the effort and the commitment of the government that is in power who for some reason is caught up in this global economic downturn,â he added.