'When did you realise personal attacks aren't fair play?' – Manasseh to Oppong Nkrumah, Assafuah

Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has questioned the outrage expressed by some New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament over GoldBod Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sammy Gyamfi’s recent personal attacks on Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin.

Manasseh, in a Facebook post on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, specifically questioned when Ofoase Ayirebi MP Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Old Tafo MP Vincent Ekow Assafuah and others began considering personal attacks unacceptable in political discourse.

His comments followed reactions from the NPP lawmakers to comments made by Sammy Gyamfi against Afenyo-Markin amid the ongoing political debate over alleged financial losses involving the Bank of Ghana and GoldBod.

According to Manasseh, while personal attacks should not be encouraged, the criticism should not be applied selectively.

He argued that those condemning Sammy Gyamfi’s remarks must also consider previous personal attacks made by the Minority Leader against the GoldBod CEO.

“I’ve seen posts by Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Vincent Ekow Assafuah and others about Sammy Gyamfi’s attack on the minority leader. Since when did they realise that personal attacks aren’t fair play? Where were they when the minority leader took on Sammy Gyamfi’s person and even threatened arrests and outrageous bail conditions should the political tables turn?

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“Why should those who praise the minority leaders’ attacks condemn Sammy Gyamfi’s response? Attacks on both sides are wrong, and you cannot praise the instigator while condemning the one who responds,” he wrote.

Manasseh maintained that the focus of the political debate should instead be on the financial losses allegedly suffered by the country and the need to establish how those losses occurred.

He argued that regardless of whether the reported GH¢22 billion loss is attributed to the Bank of Ghana or GoldBod, the alleged loss of public funds requires accountability and a proper investigation.

“The nation has lost money. All sides agree that there have been losses. We must follow the money. Whether the 22 billion cedis was lost by the Bank of Ghana or Goldbod, there is a loss,” he noted.

The investigative journalist therefore described the Minority’s demand for accountability as legitimate, although he also criticised some members of the Minority for their previous support for Strategic Mobilization Ghana Limited (SML).

He argued that some leading figures who are now demanding accountability had openly supported SML, a company that, according to him, would have received hundreds of millions of dollars from Ghana’s growing gold production had the controversial contract been allowed to continue.

“Asking for accountability is a good call by the minority, even though some of the leading characters openly supported SML, which would have been taking hundreds of millions of dollars from our rising gold production had that scandalous contract been allowed to remain,” he said.

Manasseh stressed that Ghanaians deserve clear answers on how the alleged losses occurred, who benefited from them and what measures can be introduced to prevent similar situations in the future.

He warned that the political discourse could lose its substance if the debate continues to be dominated by personal attacks between politicians from both sides of the political divide.

“Ghanaians need to know how the losses came about and how they can be curtailed. While the nation loses, some people benefit, and we cannot continue this way. So, the minority have the right to speak up.

“But if we reduce everything to personal attacks, the substance will be lost, and we will be here next year arguing over greater losses,” he added.



Noise Maker, Palm Wine Bar Talk, Prison in His Brain: Sammy Gyamfi tears into Afenyo-Markin

AK/AM