Confusion is brewing in the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) over the party’s decision to change the party’s leadership in Parliament.
The party on Tuesday, January 24, 2023, informed the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin about a change to its leadership in Parliament.
It only explained that the decision is in the best interest of the party.
Per the changes, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson takes over from Haruna Iddrisu as the new Minority Leader. Ellembelle MP, Emmanuel Armah Kofi-Buah, will replace James Klutse Avedzi as Deputy Minority Leader.
Kwame Agbodza becomes the Minority Chief Whip, and will be deputized by Banda MP, Ahmed Ibrahim and Ada legislator, Comfort Doyo Ghansah respectively.
But the decision appears not to have gone down well with some Minority MPs who say the timing is wrong. They have also accused the party leadership of failing to consult widely on the decision.
But the General Secretary and party Chairman have defended the decision insisting that the right persons were consulted. The National Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, says the 2024 election would be based largely on the economy, hence the need for the party to put forward its best foot.
Reports say out of the NDC’s 137 MPs, 60 of them have signed a petition in protest against the decision. Meanwhile, the other 77 MPs have also reportedly signed a counter petition endorsing the new leaders.
“We the undersigned NDC Members of Parliament have taken note of a letter signed by our party General Secretary Fifi Kwetey, dated 23/01/23 and addressed to the Speaker of Parliament. The letter purportedly makes changes to the leadership of our caucus. With all due respect to the leadership of our party at all levels, we wish to request that they patiently broaden and deepen consultations on the subject again, because we have doubts about how thorough the process was”, part of the decision reads” a portion of the said petition reads.
“we are concerned that this critical decision didn’t seem to have taken into consideration the unity of purpose and focus our caucus requires to deal with; the Electoral Commission’s intentions to introduce a new CI, the government’s IMF negotiations and its intended reintroduction of the ‘Agyapa deal’ before the House. We also think this decision would have unintended consequences as we go into our Parliamentary primaries.”
The 60 MPs, according to the said letter, have vowed not to recognize the new leaders.
“Until then, without disregarding the content of the letter signed by the General Secretary of our party and without malice towards our colleagues proposed as new leaders, we the undersigned NDC members of Parliament resolve to stand by our current leadership, until the process of consultation is satisfactory to all concerned.”
Those who signed the petition include Alhassan Suhuyini, Dr. Kwabena Donkor, Dr. Dominic Ayine, Sam George, Alhaji ABA Fuseini, Samson Ahi and Collins Dauda.
Source – Tru News Report
