‘You Don’t Flog A Dead Horse’ – Ursula Downplays Calls For Carlos’ Prosecution

The Minister for Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful disagrees with calls for former Deputy Minister of Trades and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah to be prosecuted.

Mr. Ahenkorah has seen the wrath of Ghanaians since Thursday after admitting to breaching COVID-19 protocols by visiting a registration centre despite being aware that he has tested positive for the virus.

He has since resigned from his deputy ministerial position.

Many Ghanaians however still insist that his resignation is not punitive enough and are therefore calling for him to face the law.

One of such people is the General Secretary of the National Democratic Secretary (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia , who says his prosecution is the only way to show the government's commitment to evenhandedly deal with offenders of the coronavirus safety rules.

Pressure group, OccupyGhana has also demanded same for the legislator who flouted the COVID-19 protocols.

But the Communication Minister says there is no need for the MP for Tema West to be prosecuted since there is no evidence that he actually infected someone with the virus.

“Prosecution for what? Unless you can show that a particular individual contracted the virus by coming into contact with him because he went on the monitoring. It will be difficult to establish a case for spreading COVID-19 willingly. So let’s not rush to tread into such areas. It’s easy to say, but would you have the evidence to prosecute? I think that if it is punishment we want, he has laid down his position as deputy minister to take responsibility for it. You don’t beat a dead horse. What else would you be achieving by his prosecution?” she wondered.

Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful rather says this should serve as a lesson for the Ghanaians to learn to take responsibility for their wrong actions.

“If he had insisted that he hadn’t done anything wrong, then the call for further sanctions to be applied will be in order. He has admitted that what he did was not proper and he has resigned and taken responsibility for it. We can use that as a lesson for all of us. Sometimes, we can in the heat of the moment do things that we regret. But once it is pointed out to you that what you did was wrong, the noble thing is to take responsibility for it,” she stressed.

She commended Carlos Ahenkorah for doing the “honourable” thing to drop down his position as deputy minister.

How we got here

On Eyewitness News on Thursday, Carlos Ahenkorah defended his decision for stepping out and monitoring the ongoing voter registration exercise despite testing positive for COVID-19.

He admitted that his doctor had told him to self-isolate but he had to visit a registration centre to resolve some issues that had come up.

Following his remarks, many Ghanaians took to social media to criticize him for moving into a public place when he was supposed to isolate himself due to his COVID-19 status.

Some of his critics urged the President to sack him, while others said he must resign for his conduct.

— citinewsroom