The Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has revealed how former President John Mahama once intervened on his behalf when his business was facing challenges.
According to the Member of Parliament, who is also an astute businessman running a haulage company, his business was deliberately frustrated due to political affiliations.
Speaking at the Kwahu Business Forum on Saturday, April 19, 2025, Afenyo-Markin shared some of the challenges faced by private businesses. He disclosed that when he could no longer tolerate the unfair treatment being meted out to his company, he sought the help of John Mahama, who was then Vice President in 2009.
“I recall when there was a change in government in 2008 and the new administration came into office, I was operating a route from Aflao to Buipe. We would pick up gypsum from Tabligbo in Togo, deliver some to Diamond Cement in Aflao, and then continue to Buipe. At each axle load station, my trucks were deliberately stopped while others were allowed to pass. The reason? They said, ‘That boy is an NPP boy.’
My partner had to rush to Vice President John Mahama, as he then was, and he intervened by calling the officers to order. I told my partner to explain that if the Diamond Cement factory in Buipe didn’t receive limestone, they wouldn’t be able to produce cement — and that would affect his [Mahama’s] own region,” the Minority Leader recounted.
He further disclosed why he shared this experience.
“Indeed, I needed to give you this background so that those of you in private business will relate so that we know where we are starting from and what is expected of us as a political class.
