I am glad I did it - Otiko Djaba replies critics over UN Assembly selfie

Ghana’s Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection Ms Otiko Djaba has admitted she did indeed take a selfie at the UN General Assembly a few weeks ago so as to “capture the moment” as President Nana Akufo-Addo delivered his maiden address to the UN in New York.

The selfie of Ms Otiko and Deputy Chief of Staff Samuel Abu Jinapor who were at the UN General Assembly meeting with the president, went viral on social media.

Her critics described her conduct as inappropriate.

Justifying the selfie, however, Ms Djaba told Accra-based Joy News that: “Yes, I did [take the selfie] to capture the moment.”

“Shw?, people saw me and they talked about it,” she boasted, adding: “I wanted to tell the world that our president was making a fantastic speech.”

“You remember when Obama came to Parliament, everybody was taking pictures to capture the moment; to show the world that: ‘We dey there some’. This was a unique moment of an African leader, Nana Akufo-Addo, telling world leaders that there is a new Africa moving us out of poverty, moving us out of aid,” Ms Djaba said.

Asked if she thought it was an appropriate thing to do at the time, she said: “I did.”