NPP MP scorns National Awards list

The controversy over this year’s national awards is deepening with NPP’s out-spoken Member of Parliament for Assin North, Kennedy Agyepong, rubbishing the nomination list released by the Office of the President.

Employing uncomplimentary language, the straight talking MP on Adom FM’s political talk show Dea Mehu on Tuesday night, questioned the basis on which President Kufuor nominated himself for a national award while still in office.

He was neither charitable chastising whoever advised the President to pick some of the names appearing on the national honours list.

Mr. Agyepong said the profiles of some of the nominees for the awards made nonsense of its dignity and essence.

He specifically mentioned the name of Andrew Awuni, Press Secretary to the President and Presidential Spokesperson, questioning how he (Awuni) could be honoured simply for serving as the Press Secretary to the President for barely two years.

Speaking on the same programme, Minority Leader Alban Bagbin confirmed that he would not accept the award because he believes he does not deserve it at this time in his political career.

“I don’t deserve the award. I am just serving the nation by virtue of my position as Minority Leader in Parliament. This alone does not deserve a national award”, Mr. Bagbin told the host of the program, Afia Pokua.

Bagbin also noted that the listing of President Kufuor for a national award amounts to creating a culture of “self glorification”.

When the programme host suggested that the Chief Justice could be the one to decorate President Kufuor with the newly-created highest national award, Mr. Bagbin exclaimed “that is nonsense”.

He stated that as a nation, “we have standards and value systems…and we cannot just allow the government to debase and devalue these values”.

The Minority Leader noted that some of the names on the list made the award an insult and said there must be a yardstick for the public to measure the contribution of nominees to the nation.

Alban Bagbin and Edward Doe Adjaho, also an NDC MP are the latest to join the list of nominees who have indicated they will not accept the national awards. Former President Rawlings and a former national security adviser, Captain Kojo Tsikata on Monday rejected the awards with Tsikata arguing that he did not know the mental processes that led to his name being included in the list.