Manchester United footballer Harry Maguire has accepted an apology from a Ghanaian MP who mocked him.
“See you at Old Trafford soon,” the defender wrote on X.
MP Isaac Adongo had been debating the budget last year when he compared Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia’s economic management to Maguire’s performances on the pitch.
On Tuesday, Mr. Adongo said he wanted to correct the record and hailed Maguire as a “transformational footballer”.
He was a “key player” for Manchester United, Mr. Adongo said during a budget debate.
But he did not let up in his criticism of Vice President Bawumia.
“As for our Maguire, he is now at the IMF, with a cup in hand,” he added.
Mr. Bawumia is the head of the government’s economic management team as Ghana faces its most severe economic crisis in years.
As government debt has soared, the country has had to take a $3bn (£2.4bn) loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In December 2022, inflation in Ghana reached a record 54% but has since fallen to around 35%.
A year ago, Mr. Adongo compared Mr. Bawumia to Harry Maguire, who, Mr. Adongo said “became the biggest threat at the centre of the Manchester United defence”.
Social media users widely shared the video of the speech.
It came amid a torrent of criticism of the footballer.
England manager Gareth Southgate has condemned the mockery as “ridiculous treatment” and said he’s been “an absolute stalwart” for the team.
Maguire’s mother also defended her son and said the abuse he had faced was “disgraceful” and “unacceptable”.
Some Ghanaians have been reacting to Mr. Adongo’s apology, saying that the Manchester United player has improved, but the same cannot be said of the managers of the Ghanaian economy.
Some argue that making such a comparison was inappropriate.
According to Mr. Adongo, the Ghanaian government has had to increase taxes and tariffs on services as part of the agreement with the IMF.
This caused widespread anger among voters and triggered protests over the rising cost of living and unemployment in the country.
Despite this, Ghana’s governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has selected Mr. Bawumia as its candidate for the 2024 elections.
Since the restoration of multi-party democracy in 1992, he will become the first Muslim to contest the presidency under the NPP’s banner.
Mr. Bawumia has promised to lead a “united and energised” NPP into the election and that it is “the only party that can transform Ghana”.
