‘Ignorant, unprofessional’ Adom-Ochtere calls NDC MP ‘irresponsible’

Days after Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, slammed broadcaster Paul Adom-Otchere describing him as ignorant and unprofessional; the Good Evening Ghana show host hast hit back.

Adom-Otchere on the November 3 edition of his show dedicated an extensive editorial to the MP who he insists disrespected spare parts dealers with comments he made weeks ago.



Read full article/> The two have been engaged in a verbal spat over the MP’s reference to Minority Leader Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu’s past as a spare parts dealer.

Describing the MP as “irresponsible” for the said comments, Adom-Otchere promised that he will dedicate time to chastise the MP for as long as the programme runs until Murtala renders an apology to spare parts dealers.

He played an abridged version of the MPs statement, “When the Speaker was a lawyer practising, you, Honourable Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, you were selling spare parts at Magazine,” then extensively critiqued him.

Among other points raised, that selling of spare parts was not less important than law and that it was the taxes from such traders that Murtala was paid salaries, ex-gratia and given car loans.

“Our purpose tonight is to carry out advocacy about a Member of Parliament who made reckless statements, Murtala Mohammed made a totally reckless statement as a Member of Parliament.

“Today we are bringing his car, next time we will bring the salaries that he has drawn n Parliament, we will bring the loans that he has taken from Parliament and show you how reckless some MPs are,” Adom-Otchere charged.

Murtala addressing the Majority Leader last week told TV3: “You listened to him in the press conference and he even said that the Speaker doesn’t even understand the law...” before making the infamous statement.

Adom-Otchere’s first attack

In an editorial on the October 27 edition of Good Evening Ghana, Adom-Otchere berated the, MP for denigrating the Majority Leader and by extension spare parts dealers.

Paul Adom-Otchere said that Murtala, by the statement he made, lacks wisdom.

“I talked about wisdom... that wisdom, it is not everybody that is able to demonstrate it like that. You’re a politician, a Member of Parliament, and you're talking down spare parts dealers.

“Murtala, Allah will forgive you eh. Don’t do that again. You are part of a mass party, the National Democratic Congress, and you are rubbishing spare parts dealers that their nobodies.

“Don’t you know that people finish university these days with a first class in electrical engineering and then go and do spare parts dealing? What is wrong with some of our politicians?

“Murtala was talking down spare parts dealers that Majority Leader Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu he was a spare parts dealer when Bagbin was practising law. Murtala is saying that. The other day, he was not happy that somebody was calling him a teacher,” he said.

Murtala hits back

Reacting to Adom-Otchere in an interview with Metro TV News, Murtala explained that his reference to Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu as a spare parts dealer was borne out by the fact that Adom-Otchere was clearly ignorant.

“Indeed, that was his job and it is not denigratory, that was his job, he was actually selling spare parts at the time when Bagbin was already practising as a lawyer … It had nothing to do with spare parts dealers,” he stressed.

He also disclosed that his father was actually a spare parts dealer and he (Murtala) had at a point in his life managed the spare parts business. “As a matter of fact, unknown to Paul, my father was a spare parts dealer, I used to manage my father’s spare parts store. My father used to deal in sewing machines and bicycles and spare parts of same.

“So, for him to spin and create the impression that I was denigrating spare parts dealers, for me, that is most unfortunate. So, I knew he is ignorant, frankly; but I never knew he is that unprofessional,” Murtala jabbed.

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