It appears the war against politics of insults is far from being won. On Saturday, the deputy Tourism Minister James Agyenim Boateng and the Head of the Communications Team of the New Patriotic Party Nana Akomeah turned a contest of wits and intellect to one of insults. They were discussing the hotly controversial mystery tape in which a muffled voice alleged to be that of a deputy Information Minister Baba Jamal is heard promising some journalists car and cash as reward for doing government’s bidding. Officials of the ruling government have rubbished the content of the tape describing it as fabrication but the opposition believes it is authentic and has called for further investigation into it. Representatives of the two parties who appeared on Multi TV and Joy FM’s news analysis programme Newsfile were in no mood for civility and went all mouths blazing with insults. Nana Akomea in his opening remarks had called for a voice expert to authenticate whose voice it was on that tape. But the Deputy Tourism Minister James Agyenim Boateng believes no such expert is needed. “...You find a Member of Parliament, a Director of Communications of the opposition political party who holds a press conference, denigrates a deputy minister of information, runs him down, runs a whole government machinery down; makes serious allegations as wanting to bribe and corrupt journalist. He sits on a platform like this, you give him the opportunity to prove the very issues that he calls a press conference and speaks to, then he says that lets find an expert to establish the authenticity of the tape. What kind of shameful conduct is this?” “This is ridiculous and you ought not be involved in something like this,” Boateng fired. “What is wrong with it?” Akomea asked. “The point is that everybody who knows Baba Jamal and has heard his voice before will tell you; you don’t need to be a voice expert to tell that that is not Baba Jamal’s voice on that tape. And I think it betrays the intelligence of those who addressed that press conference to come up with something as ridiculous as that," Boateng stated. “I would not be insulted on this Programme,” he protested and asked for a retraction which the minister declined. “Nana Akomea should be telling us when this meeting took place…” “There are simple, sensible, basic questions that ought to be asked as far as this tape is concerned,” he said, adding “I will not withdraw anything I have said in relation to this tape.” “You are a stupid fool. If you will sit on this programme and call me unintelligent. You are a stupid fool and you are a minister,” Akomea protested harshly. Put in a difficult situation, host Samson Lardi Ayenini tried to calm nerves asking both gentlemen to be temperate in their language. Both men refused to retract and apologise for their comments.