The Member of Parliament for Kwadaso, Dr Kingsley Nyarko, has called on the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, to apologise to the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, over allegations made against him.

The comments come amid a public dispute between Afenyo-Markin and Gyamfi over reported losses linked to the Domestic Gold Purchasing Programme operated through GoldBod by the Bank of Ghana.

Sammy Gyamfi has accused the Minority Leader of leading what he described as a smear campaign against him and linked the alleged campaign to claims of extortion.

Osahen Afenyo-Markin has denied the allegations and has subsequently filed a defamation suit against Gyamfi, Eric Agyei and some media houses in an attempt to clear his name.

Dr Nyarko said political disagreements should not degenerate into attacks that damage the reputation of political opponents.

Speaking on Accra-based Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme on Tuesday, August 25, Dr Nyarko said Afenyo-Markin is the NPP’s Minority Leader and deserves respect despite political differences between the two sides.

He said he would not attack the reputation of members of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), even when he disagreed with them politically.

“Sammy Gyamfi should not disrespect our leader. He shouldn’t. It’s public record that Afenyo-Markin, our revered leader, is a self-made, hardworking gentleman of our land. To put a label on somebody’s reputation, you don’t do that,” he said.

“If he’s minded, Sammy should humble himself and offer words of apology to our leader. If he had done that, I don’t think Afenyo-Markin will do that. Because in politics, you don’t know tomorrow,” he said.

He also urged politicians to focus on substantive issues rather than resorting to personal attacks and what he described as character assassination.

“We are politicians. You must be decent in your discourses. It shouldn’t be that one day I meet Sammy Gyamfi, I cannot talk to him, or he meets me and he can’t talk to me because I have damaged his reputation. That shouldn’t be part of our politics,” Dr Nyarko added.