The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), made changes to its leadership parliament. However, 73 of the 137 minority MPs have signed a petition against it.
Haruna Iddrisu is no longer the Minority Leader in parliament, whereas Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak also lost his role as Minority Chip Whip.
The Asawasi MP, Muntaka Mohammed, has stated that the minority leaders were never informed about the changes.
During a press briefing on Thursday, Muntaka said that the decision was made by a small group in the party and that the General Secretary subsequently drafted a letter to that effect. He stated that it was improper not to have consulted the full minority caucus before the decision.
Read the petition below
“We the undersigned NDC Members of Parliament have taken note of a letter signed by our party General Secretary, Fifi Kwetey, dated 23rd January 2023, and addressed to the Speaker of Parliament.
“The basis for our petition is a prayer that, the party will suspends the reshuffling as indicated by the General Secretary until such a time that a holistic meeting of stakeholders with consultations before a decision is taken.”
“we are saying so against the backdrop that the national executives of the party a few weeks ago decided that all appointees in the party and parliament should remain in office till we conclude the parliamentary and presidential primaries. We are therefore surprised that the reshuffling is reaching the caucus in parliament. We think that this is premature. The timing is not appropriate and the consequences are very grave. There should be more timely and adequate consultation.”
“It is when that letter is read to members of the House before it can take effect. As we speak, we are on recess and for us, the current leaders of the House, Hon. Haruna, Hon. Muntaka and co are still at post.”
“At no such meeting was this issue brought up for discussion. So it is clear that the letter may have been written by the General Secretary, but it’s a decision by a few people, and we believe that our party should sit up because Article 55 of the 1997 constitution enjoins us to follow democratic processes.”
“We were never consulted. Rumours that some elders were sent to talk to us, that is not true. We do not think it is acceptable for us as parliamentarians to watch on as leaders are chosen for us,” he said when the NDC MPs petitioned the party leadership over the recent changes in its front bench in the house.
Source – Tru News Report
