The Energy Minister who doubles as the Member of Parliament for Manhyia South constituency in the Ashanti Region, Dr Mattew Opoku Prempeh has responded to critics who suggested he and some NPP MPs abandoned parliamentary duties to travel to Qatar to watch the World cup football match between the senior national team, the Black Stars and Portugal a fortnight ago.
According to him, his presence in the Middle East was hugely misrepresented by his detractors to whip the sentiments of the populace but however provided a vivid account of his visit.
The Manhyia South lawmaker explained President Nana Akufo-Addo in the past five months has tasked his ministry to go out there to secure very reliable and cheaper sources of fuel for the nation in order to mitigate the suffering of Ghanaians.
He added such job took him out of the country which coincided the period of the Black Stars match and he took the opportunity to watch the World cup game against Portugal which attracted serious public backlash.
“Working for the Ministry of Energy, my main preoccupations are to ensure the lights stays on and people have enough fuel in their cars. We have pictures of an increasing situation around West Africa where people have been queuing for petrol and electricity is being rationed.
“His Excellency has put us in the bid, so in the last five months, we have been out – either me or one of my assistants have been out of the country to securing deals that would ensure Ghanaians don’t ration fuel. Such jobs took me out a week today Ghana played Portugal and such job had taken me to the Middle East where we were working with some companies to try and give us reliable, secured, cheaper sources of fuel, I took the opportunity to go and watch the Black Stars match and it was hugely misrepresented but it’s the job because we’ve been out for over four weeks” he explained.
Background
Pictures of the Energy Minister and some other New Patriotic Party Members of Parliament including Madam Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, MP for Ablekuma West and Minister for Communications and Digitilisation at a stadium in Qatar were seen on social media which angered many Ghanaians who felt the lawmakers had abandoned the 2023 budget debate for the FIFA Mondial in Qatar.
