Social activist Stanley Abopam has described as needless and uncalled for public outrage over the purported display of opulence by the Upper East Regional Minister Donatus Akamugri Atanga.
“I think the noise around the video is very needless, uncalled for and probably for want of a better word, coming from persons who do not very well appreciate the cultural dynamics within the Frafra cultural context.”
Donatus Akamugri has been captured in videos making rounds flinging cash into the air.
The videos are said to have been taken at a ceremony held over the weekend to welcome the minister following his swearing-in. Many have expressed outrage over his supposed action in the videos, describing it as a show of opulence and demanding a revocation of his appointment.
However, Stanley Abopam dismissed the public sentiment, describing it as needless and the reports that trailed the videos as sensational.
He argued that the minister flinging money into the air is an acceptable cultural practice of appreciating performers at public gatherings among the Farefare people of the region and cannot be said to be an extravagant display that will warrant his dismissal.
“We must understand that Akamukre is, first of all, a Frafra man before a politician. We cannot completely decouple his culture and tradition from his political person,” he argued in an interview on Breakfast Today on Dreamz FM.
He urged Ghanaians to “learn to appreciate cultural diversity. We should not allow cultural differences to project wrong notions into us. I think that is unacceptable”.
