Samuel Pyne, the Ashanti Regional General Secretary of the NPP
• Sam Pyne is justifying the breaking of the coronavirus protocols at Sir John’s funeral
• He suggests that some of the pictures from the funeral could have been modified to suit a narrative
• Sam Pyne says government officials were only present at the burial ceremony
Samuel Pyne, the Ashanti Regional General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party, NPP, has questioned the credibility of photos and videos from the funeral of the late Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie a.k.a. Sir John.
Pyne who confirmed that he was present at only the burial ceremony and not the funeral said that the possibility of the trending pictures having been edited to push a narrative cannot be ruled out of the conversation around the failure to observe Coronavirus protocols during the events.
Speaking on Accra-based Neat FM, Sam Pyne said that in the era of technology, where photo editing softwares abound, it is only right that the possibility of photoshop is considered.
According to him, his views are borne out of the fact that the burial ceremony had limited attendees even though the trending pictures and videos from the event suggest otherwise.
“At the burial, we made sure we spaced out enough. That is why it was done on the pitch and veronica buckets and sanitizers were all provided but I wasn’t at the funeral so the optics being shown I can’t trust them. “In this era of technology anything can happen. It’s not that I don’t believe the picture but in the era of technology anything can happen. They can edit my head and put it on a different body to show that I’m the one,” he said.
Sam Pyne also said that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia should not be blamed as they only attended the burial and were not present at the funeral where the non-adherence to the Covid-19 protocols were recorded.
“I wasn’t at the funeral and president was not at the funeral. We came for the burial service. It’s a matter for all of us to talk about. Government in its own way made provisions for the adherence of the protocols.
“90% of government officials who went there attended the burial service and not the funeral and before the funeral everything was followed. I wasn’t at the funeral so I can’t speak on it. I know of people who went for the funeral because Sir John had a lot admirers,” he added.
Sam Pyne also called for a holistic discourse on the breaches of the safety measures, citing recent chaos at an Accra Great Olympics and Hearts of Oak game and happenings at major markets where people breach protocols day in and out.
“We shouldn’t only use Sir John’s funeral because we saw what happened at Accra Sports Stadium. On daily basis, same thing happens at Makola, Kaneshie and Mallam Atta Market,” he told Neat FM.
Meanwhile the New Patriotic Party has apologized on behalf of President Akufo-Addo and his vice over the incident.