The Information Minister, Fatima Abubakar, has spiritedly defended the outgoing Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya East constituency in the Central Region, Mavis Hawa Koomson, amid public criticism of the national award presented to her by President Akufo-Addo.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, January 4, with Samson Lardy, while discussing this year’s State Honour Awards, she said Hawa Koomson is one of the most competent individuals she has encountered in the government of Akufo-Addo and rightfully deserved to be honoured.

“Honourable Hawa Koomson is one of the most competent women I have ever come across, and you can check her track record from every sector she has worked in,” she claimed.

She added, “She was awarded in the category of public sector, having excelled in her work as a minister in those public institutions, and was duly nominated by the people she worked with.”

Hawa Koomson, who served in two ministries under the Akufo-Addo government, was awarded, but her actions during the 2020 and 2024 general elections – when she allegedly discharged firearms, among other disturbances that led to fatalities in her constituency – have sparked widespread backlash among Ghanaians.

The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, criticized her, stating that she did not deserve the award due to the controversies surrounding her.

In response, the Information Minister argued, “In Ghana, I say bad news sells. People say, ‘Oh, we have heard that she pulled a gun,’ and then brand her (as someone who is truly dangerous, as seen by the public).”

She asked whether it was a crime to pull a gun in Ghana. She said if the argument was that Ghanaians do not think that ministers deserve to be awarded for their work, then there must be an agreement on that.