President of policy think tank IMANI, Franklin Cudjoe has lashed out at the Minister-designate for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Otiko Afisa Djaba for her
According to him, Otiko Afisa Djaba is a "pale shadow" of the immediate past Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection Nana Oye Lithur.
He said she [Otiko] was terrible at the Appointments Committee vetting, he said in a Facebook post.
Read more:"I owe Mahama no apology" - Otiko Djaba
Otiko Djaba during her vetting at Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Monday, 30 January refused to apologise to former President John Mahama for her unsavory comments during the 2016 campaign.
According to her, she criticized former President Mahama but did not insult him.
The Member of Parliament for Tamale North, Alhassan Suhuyini, who raised the matter on the floor of Parliament’s Appointment’s Committee, entreated the minister designate to apologise and disassociate herself from those comments since they were unpleasant.
Read also: Otiko denies endorsing Ken Agyapong's sex-for-EC job claim
But Madam Otiko Djaba who described the former president as a brother said she stood by her words and spoke based on her convictions.
"The President is my brother and I spoke from my convictions. I made the statements that I made as a wakeup call for him. We are building the nation. He was running for re-election and I felt that the people who should tell him as it is were not telling him as it was. I spoke in relation to SADA. SADA is very dear to my heart. My mother is a Northerner; the incidence of poverty is highest in the three Northern Regions and for a President who comes from the Northern Region, who promised to alleviate poverty, what happened to the Guinea fowls? It was an embarrassment to me and to the North. The Chiefs of the North actually made that statement and so I don’t owe him or you any apology. We are developing and building a nation."
When asked to withdraw her earlier comment made on Mahama, Otiko Djaba said "When I talked about his wickedness, the people of Ghana were asking for reduction, they were asking for dumsor to be solved, people were losing jobs and so forth… Are you saying we cannot criticize in this country?"
Ms Djaba added that, "Yes Mr Chairman... I did not insult the president, I criticised him."