Leader of the Creative Arts Council, Mark Okraku-Mantey has defended Shirley Ayorkor Botchway following the minister’s dig at the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for Ayawaso West Wuogon, John Dumelo.
She had stated that parliament “is for serious-minded people and not people who have done some movies and think they are popular.”
“It is a serious place; I will tell him; the laws of the country are enacted in parliament. If our President can continue his job very well, he needs Lydia Alhassan in Parliament to do the job so that all you need as a constituency will be easily given to you.”
Shirley Ayorkor Botchway’s comments attracted a lot of backlash from the creative industry.
However, Okraku-Mantey argues that Ayorkor Botchway’s statement has been taken out of context.
He stressed that the comment was targeted at actor John Dumelo contrary to the suggestions it sought to cast a slur on people in the arts.
“There is a perception that John Dumelo is riding on his popularity so she was commenting about John Dumelo who is contesting Lydia Alhassan. Lately, John has done some interviews, he has shown his weakness in state governance and politics. Some have misconstrued her, they think she was taking a dig at creative persons but I’m saying she never made a generic statement,” Okraku Mantey clarified.
“Kojo Oppong Nkrumah [Information Minister] is from the media which is also a creative space. Nobody labels Kojo Oppong Nkrumah ‘weak’ or ignorant and that is because he knows what he’s about. This is to juxtapose that there are people who have shown they know what they are about and it must be noted that if you have a shortfall, around this time, it will be used against you. So Shirley noticed John has not been following governance but wants to be an MP”, he added.
