Ahomka-Lindsay justifies 'whining' comment

Robert Ahomka-Lindsay, whose name and conduct came to the limelight during the John Agyekum Kufuor regime, has once again started attracting the negative headlines over his recent outburst at Ghanaians resident abroad, whom the Akufo-Addo government, had invited for a summit to get them to invest in the Ghanaian economy.

A week after the public backlash, the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, claimed his comments were not meant to cast aspersions, but an expression of his experience, as someone who lived in the Diaspora and has returned to the country.

Mr. Ahomka-Lindsay, addressing Diaspora Homecoming Summit at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) last Thursday, told the diasporans to stop “whining” about things not working in Ghana.

“Nobody likes whiners, people that spend all the time whining, really get on people’s nerves, so stop whining,” the deputy Minister said in a video in circulation.

The comments angered some of the participants at the forum, one of whom asked, “Who travels 3,000 miles to be a whiner?”

Whiner, is a person, who habitually complains or grumbles.

Mr. Ahomka-Lindsay’s poor language and unpleasant human relations, came to light when he first served as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC).

There were moments, he was reported to have threatened to beat up some GIPC staff, who dared disagreed with him.

Amid huge protest, he relocated the GIPC office under the Office of President from the Ministries area in Accra to Gulf House near the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange closer to his East Legon home at an outrageous cost to the state.

He had also purchased some luxurious cars, including Jaguar for his personal use to the surprise of many staff of GIPC, most of whom had no official cars to work with. The GIPC staff, were eager to see his dismissal, following the change of government in 2009.

They pushed the John Evans Atta Mills administration to sack Mr. Ahomka-Lindsay, no matter how desperately he tried to stay in office.

Attempting an explanation, he insisted that his comment at the Diasporans was not meant to offend anyone.

“I wish to assure the people of Ghana and all those who have been offended by my comments that I did not in any way intend to sound offensive in my presentation,” a statement issued yesterday and signed by Mr. Ahomka-Lindsay noted.

“None of my comments were meant to cast aspersions. They were an expression of my personal experience,” the statement said.

“I wish to assure the people of Ghana and all those who have been offended by my comments that I did not in any way intend to sound offensive in my presentation.”

Find below, the full statement by Robert Ahomka-Lindsay:

July 13, 2017

STATEMENT ON MY SPEECH ON DIASPORA MEETING

I refer to recent discussions on a 2 to 3-minute clip from my 14-minute speech given at the Ghana Diaspora meeting in Accra. The clip is a complete misrepresentation of the speech and taken completely out of context.

I was asked to give my candid opinion on my experience as a Diaspora returnee and how I would advise others who intend to make a similar journey. My speech was in 5 parts: 1. Your approach to trying to get results in Ghana 2. What you should expect when you make the move to Ghana 3. The opportunities available for you in Ghana 4. The rewards for perseverance 5. The next steps

The clip being shown referred to section 1 of the speech. Listening to it independent of the other three sections gives a completely different meaning to the speech I would implore all that want to get a true picture of my speech to look at it on YouTube.

None of my comments were meant to cast aspersions. They were an expression of my personal experience. I wish to assure the people of Ghana and all those who have been offended by my comments that I did not in any way intend to sound offensive in my presentation. I hold all Ghanaians in the greatest respect and would not in any way do or say anything that would impugn their integrity.