The Member of Parliament for Gomoa Central, Kwame Asare Obeng, popularly known as A Plus, has defended his leadership approach, arguing that intelligence, innovation and vision are more critical to governance than fluency in the English language.
Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on Wednesday, December 17, the lawmaker addressed public criticism surrounding his command of English, describing such commentary as misplaced and a distraction from pressing development priorities.
According to A Plus, effective leadership should be measured by ideas and the ability to deliver tangible results, not by polished language skills. He said remarks targeting his English proficiency do not concern him, as his focus remains firmly on practical solutions.
“I don’t care; it actually makes me happy. People say your MP speaks good English, but I’m telling you that 21,000 acres is equal to five million square metres, and I can tokenise it and build a whole new city,” he stated.
The Gomoa Central MP stressed that competence and vision, rather than eloquence, should be the benchmark for evaluating leaders. He said his ambition is rooted in transforming large parcels of land into modern developments through innovative methods such as tokenisation.
“You can go and speak English; that is your problem. As for me, I know my IQ is on a certain level. I have a vision to build a whole new city, and you are talking about speaking English,” he added.
To further support his argument, A Plus referenced historical achievements, noting that major civilisations accomplished extraordinary projects through strategic thinking and intelligence rather than linguistic expertise.
“When Pharaoh asked his people to build a pyramid, he didn’t ask for English professors. When they built tunnels and trains under the earth in England, they didn’t call English professors. When they built the Great Wall of China, they didn’t call English professors. They called smart people,” he said.
He maintained that throughout history, transformative development has been driven by creativity, technical knowledge and problem-solving abilities, not by language proficiency alone.
A Plus concluded by urging the public to assess leaders based on their vision, ideas and capacity to deliver results, stressing that Ghana’s development agenda must prioritise practical intelligence and innovation over eloquence.
