The Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Murtala Mohammed has stated that the General Secretary for the NDC, Fiifi Kwetey cannot unilaterally take decisions for the party.
His comment comes on the back of the General Secretary’s insistence that the party will not reverse the NDC Minority reshuffle announced.
The Tamale Central MP, however has challenged the Chairman and the General Secretary to produce minutes of the National Executive Meeting that sanctioned the reshuffle in the Minority in Parliament.
“He (Fiifi Kwetey) doesn’t own the party. He can make those statements but let’s see how events unfold. He is not an authority. I supported him and he knows that. I chaired his campaign in Parliament and he knows that. I supported him and I have no regret supporting him. He is not an authority to himself.
“Hon. Haruna Iddrisu is 20 years in Parliament. By the way, Hon. Avedzi has a finance background and Tech background. So that argument of finance is bogus. Then again, the argument of Hon. Avedzi not coming back to Parliament is bogus, one of the people they appointed is also not returning. He also said he is not coming back again.”
Murtala Mohammed
Meanwhile, the newly appointed Minority leader in Parliament, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has expressed indebtedness to the headship of the NDC for appointing him to lead the minority caucus in parliament. The Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam MP said he’s humbled by his elevation in the House in a Facebook post.
“I am honoured and humbled to have been chosen to lead our illustrious and gallant caucus in Parliament. I thank the leadership of our party who have placed their trust and confidence in me. I am also deeply grateful to colleagues, the rank and file of our party and the Ghanaian people for their profound support and solidarity”.
Murtala Mohammed
NDC NEC Did Not Change Haruna Iddrisu; Asiedu Nketiah Did
The MP for Tamale Central, Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, has rebutted submissions that the National Executive Council (NEC) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) took the verdict of replacing the parliamentary leadership of the party. According to him, he is a member of the National Executive Council of the party and did not take part in any meeting where the change in the party’s parliamentary leadership was discussed.
Murtala speculated that the National Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, and the party’s General Secretary, Fiifi Kwetey, were the ones who made decisions to change the leadership of the minority caucus. He stated that the NDC is a democratic party and no individual can dictate to the party.
“One of the arguments they make is that NEC can make a decision without consulting parliament, yes that is true. Functional Executive Committee (FEC) can take a decision without consulting parliament, yes that is true.
Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed
“The question I ask them (is), was this decision taken by the FEC or NEC?… the 1st highest decision-making body of the party is Congress, the 2nd highest decision-making body of the party is NEC, I am a member of NEC, the 3rd highest decision-making body is FEC. So, any of these can take a decision for the party that is binding on everybody. Not individuals within these structures.”
Murtala also said that even though he supported and campaigned for Asiedu Nketiah and Fiifi Kwetey to win their current positions, he does not back their decision to change the party’s parliamentary leadership.
“… someone should produce minutes (of NEC’s meeting) where the decision was taken to appoint a new leadership… I don’t think the National Chairman and General Secretary will be unhappy with us raising legitimate questions in my opinion about their actions.”
Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed
The Tamale Central MP added that the reasons given by Asiedu Nketiah for the removal of the minority leader are not tangible because he (Asiedu Nketiah) said that the changes feed into the larger party reorganization plan that has seen the election of local level to national-level officers over the last year.
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