The Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has formally withdrawn and apologised for allegations he made against the Interior Minister, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, over the ongoing security service recruitment exercise.
The apology was delivered on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, March 4, following a directive by the First Deputy Speaker, Bernard Ahiafor, who had referred the Minority Leader to the Privileges Committee for possible contempt.
The referral was triggered by a complaint from the Interior Minister, who described the claims against him as unfounded and injurious to his reputation.
Mr Afenyo-Markin had earlier alleged that the involvement of a third-party IT firm in the recruitment process amounted to fraud and imposed an unnecessary financial burden on applicants.
Rising to address the House, the Minority Leader sought to clarify his position and retract the statement.
“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not do that to hurt him or tarnish his reputation, and if the text of my concern reflected so, it is hereby accordingly withdrawn.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 said.
His apology was accepted by Mr Muntaka, who admitted that the accusations had caused him considerable distress, particularly given the seriousness of the claims.
“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,” the Interior Minister stated.
He subsequently appealed to the Speaker to have the earlier allegations expunged from the official parliamentary record.
“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 added.
The development brings a temporary close to what had threatened to escalate into a privileges inquiry, as both sides move to restore decorum within the House.
