I Stand By My �Elevation� Comment Against Greenstreet � Sam George

A Presidential staffer, Samuel George has insisted that he will not retract his controversial comments which seemed to have offended the sensibilities of the General Secretary of the Convention People�s Party (CPP) Ivor Greenstreet. Responding to Mr. Greenstreet�s criticism against the NDC government on Saturday, Mr. George wrote on his facebook wall that: �Ivor Greenstreet apparently needs some elevation to see the Better Ghana.� He was subsequently attacked by several people on social media and on different media platforms, who felt he was insulting Mr. Greenstreet�s physical disability. Many of his critics called on him to apologize but speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday, Samuel George insisted that: �Mr. Ivor Greenstreet needs to elevate his thinking and it�s a position I stand by� I have not taken down the post from Facebook because the post is not an insult,� he said. According to him, the conversation should rather be about Mr. Greestreet�s unsubstantiated allegations against the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government. The CPP�s General Secretary during his solidarity message at the NDC�s National Delegates Congress rather issued a damning assessment of the government and accused them of taking the people of Ghana for granted. He also stated that the party�s Better Ghana Agenda which they have been touting since they took over power in 2008 is yet to be experienced by citizens. Sam George explained that the Better Ghana Agenda which has become a bone of contention �is not a physical structure that you can lift somebody up to see so that twist being linked to my statement was flawed on that basis.� According to him, no dictionary in the world �places elevation as a synonym of disability which is what some sections of the media and political elements have sought to do.� The Presidential staffer accused the media and political opponents of placing an unfortunate and unwarranted twist on the matter and also dragging the Ghana Federation of the Disabled into the matter. According to him, if his post is analyzed �devoid of any sentiments, devoid of any partisanship, any mischievous twist and malicious intent, you will not draw the conclusions you are drawing.� �I don�t see where this whole twist is coming from; I think its most distasteful but well, it�s what we have to deal with from time to time in the Ghanaian media,� he added.