The Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has formally retracted and apologised to the Interior Minister, Muntaka Mubarak, over allegations of fraud in the ongoing security service recruitment exercise.
The apology, delivered on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, 4 March, followed a directive from First Deputy Speaker Bernard Ahiafor, who referred Afenyo-Markin to the Privileges Committee on grounds of contempt.
The referral came after the Interior Minister described the claims as baseless and damaging. Afenyo-Markin had alleged that the involvement of a third-party IT firm in the recruitment process amounted to a scam and imposed undue financial burdens on applicants.
Speaking before Parliament, Afenyo-Markin sought to clarify his position: “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not do that to hurt him or tarnish his reputation, and if the text of my concern reflected so, it is hereby accordingly withdrawn.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.”
Accepting the apology, Muntaka said the allegations were deeply 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.”
He further urged the Speaker to expunge the matter from the parliamentary record, adding: “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.”