General News of 2012-06-25

Tempers flare over Mills’ health

The controversial topic of President John Mills’ health and the fabricated news of his death which made headlines this week got to a crescendo with two panelists on Joy FM and MultiTV Newsfile programme throwing salvoes at each other, Saturday.

But for the vigilance of host Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, who shrewdly sought refuge in a commercial break to calm tempers, a verbal and maybe physical confrontation between the New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for Manhyia, Mathew Opoku Prempeh and a member of government’s communication team, Samuel George Nartey could not have been ruled out. And they were seated a nose distance away from each other.

Nartey, in discussing the topic of Mills’ health, accused Opoku Prempeh of leading the diabolic fabrication of the president's death by stating on Metro TV, last Wednesday that President John Mills was in coma, an allegation the Manhyia MP described as mischievous.

He said the “clearly planned mischief” by Prempeh was continued with tons of messages of President Mills’ death on Facebook and other social network sites by persons with the NPP communications team.

Asked which members of the NPP communications team were dabbling in this premature death scandal, George Nartey said he would rather not personalise an issue of broad national interest.

He said whilst the NPP MP was questioning the whereabouts of President John Mills on Metro TV's Good morning Ghana programme, he failed to question the whereabouts of his colleague Kwabre MP, Owusu Ansah who was announced dead on Thursday.

Nartey said discussing the president’s health in the public domain is not only “distasteful” but “repugnant.”

He challenged Opoku Prempeh to disclose his health status to his constituents in Manhyia before proceeding with a demand for Mills to disclose his health status to the whole of Ghana.

On the constitutional provision of the President’s state of health, the NDC Communications team member said, nowhere in the constitution does it say the president must notify Ghanaians when he is going for a check-up.

Rather what it demands is that when the president is incapacitated in any shape or form the vice president can perform the duties of the president, he argued.

As George Nartey rattled on, Opoku Prempeh was anxiously waiting for his turn to explode. That time came.

Asked if he said President Mills was in coma, Opoku Prempeh retorted, “No. I used the word coma for those who want to be illiterates whilst they are very literates. It saddens me.”

“I want to make certain things clear because he has linked it to somebody at Kwabre. Somebody I was in Parliament with on Wednesday. He should go and check the Hansard before he makes such irresponsible remarks on your station. If he is well educated he won’t make such irresponsible remarks,” Prempeh snapped.

He accused George Nartey of mocking the family of the late Owusu Ansah, the Kwabre MP. How dare you!!" He fired.

At that point tempers began flaring and Kojo Oppong Nkrumah intervened with news of an unsolicited commercial break.

After the break and with emotions and tempers back to normal, Opoku Prempeh said he used the word coma during the discussion on Metro TV but not in the context within which Nartey claimed.

He explained that in discussing President Mills’ loud silence on the communal violence that hit the country and juxtaposing it with Koku Anyidoho’s gaffe of sacking the head of the Ashanti Regional ECG boss in the name of the President, “I asked where was President John Mills?”

“Was he sleeping? Was he in deep sleep? Was he in coma?" "Not medical Coma,” he quickly retorted.

He said George Nartey is only being mischievous in making such malicious assumption from his harmless comments.