Former Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mark Okraku-Mantey
Former Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mark Okraku-Mantey, has expressed concern over what he sees as a pattern of undue criticism directed at deputies while their superiors remain untouched.
In an interview on Joy FM, Okraku-Mantey questioned why, in certain conversations, attention and scrutiny was often focused on him, a deputy minister, instead of the substantive minister who holds the highest responsibility.
“If you mean well, why do you leave the main minister free and touch on the deputy?” he asked.
He noted that this unusual focus became more apparent during his time in office, suggesting that both he and the former vice president Mahamudu Bawumia were, in a way, singled out for criticism or political targeting, despite being second-in-command in their respective roles.
“It is only in my time that the deputy, not only I, but I and Dr. Bawumia, we are the only people in the NPP government, the Vice President and a deputy minister, who were seen to be treated as though we were the ones supposed to lead,” he said.
Okraku-Mantey admitted he still does not fully understand what led to such treatment but suggested that perhaps they were too visible, or may have overshadowed the ministers they worked under.
“I don’t know what we did wrong, but maybe we also showed too many faces. We covered the main people somehow,” he added.
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