Ursula Owusu-Ekuful apologises to NDC MPs for her unsavoury comment after 2020 SONA

The Communications Minister-designate has apologised to the NDC MPs of the 7th Parliament for verbally abusing them when they boycotted President Akufo-Addo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) in February 2020.

Ursula Owusu-Ekuful during her vetting Monday although strongly defended her words that Minority MPs have “taken leave of their senses”, she explained that she meant no harm.

However, demanding an apology, the North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said the choice of words used by the Ablekuma North MP was an “outright insult” and it is “unacceptable”.

“Mr Chairman the expression, “they have taken leave of their senses” is an outright insult. It is most offensive. And this side of the House feels scandalized. We are hurt by it.

“The nominee, I believe owes us an apology because it is not acceptable to call all of us [NDC MPs] that we have taken leave of our senses,” the North Tongu MP said.

Ursula is alleged to have said her colleagues in the minority left their senses behind when they walked out of Parliament on Thursday, February 20, 2020.

The legislator was peeved by her Minority colleagues’ walkout during the State of the Nation Address.

“Staging a walkout without reason looks as if they have taken leave of their senses, excuse me to say; particularly when their leadership also indulges in this completely unnecessary and senseless exercise,” Mrs Owusu-Ekuful fumed in an interview on Joy News.

But the Ablekuma West legislator insisted that her statement has been taken out of context.

According to her, she prefixed the statement with “as if” and added “excuse me to say” as a suffix, as such, her words were not to cause any malice.

“Mr Chairman, if you listen to the full tape and you do not situate what you are saying in context, then maybe what the member is saying maybe justified. But what I said is “it looks as if ‘they’ve taken leave of their senses’ excuse me to say. It is there.

“We could just play it again. We will all hear exactly what I said. So even there, the intention is clearly not to say that the Minority side of the House has taken leave of their senses; it’s English Language and it has meaning. Words have meanings and you read them within their context,” she mounted a defence.

But wading into her response, the Chairman of the Appointments Committee, Joseph Owusu Wise, asked if the Minister-designate is willing to apologise since the group she was referring to took offence with her comment.

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful then apologised for the statement she made nearly a year ago.

“Mr Chairman, it is also critically important to situate statements within context, so that you do not read the wrong meaning into it.

“No offence was meant. If offence was taken then I apologise,” she said.