Mr. Yaw Obeng Manu, Editor of the Ghanaian Publisher Newspaper, has alleged that the recent shake up in leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in parliament was influenced by the Speaker of Parliament, Hon Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin.
Mr Obeng Manu persisted that, Hon Bagbin’s affiliation to the opposition NDC cannot go unnoticed, with issues relating to the party despite serving as a line judge.
Speaking in an interview, the editor alluded that, the decision targeted Hon. Haruna Iddrisu and Hon Muntaka Mubarak as leaders of the Minority Caucus, as some sections within the party believe they were against Bagbin.
“The decision targeted specific people and obviously it wasn’t just Muntaka but probably Haruna appears to be the target. Before I go into it, we have heard the National Chairman of the party, now explaining that the previous leadership were not cooperating with the Speaker of Parliament, knowing very well the Speaker of Parliament is supposed to be an independent arbiter in the whole process.
“Aseidu Nketia acknowledged the fact that the party struggled to get Bagbin as the Speaker and so naturally the party is supposed to benefit. If the National Chairman says the leaders of the party in parliament were not cooperating with the speaker, then I want to assume that Hon Alban Bagbin told them they were not working with him and in the scheme of things, you cannot take Bagbin out of the NDC now. The speaker matters in the NDC and if he tells them the leaders were working against him, then they needed to do something. That was to get rid of them.”
Mr Manu
The Editor to greater extent suggested that, calls for the NDC leadership to have consulted key members of the party are unrealistic, as the party’s decision-makers knew such attempts would prove futile.
On Tuesday, January 24, the NDC changed the makeup of its parliamentary leadership by designating Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, MP for Ajumako Enyam Essiam, as the new Minority Leader.
Hon Haruna Idrussu,MP for Tamale South, Hon James Klutse Avedzi, MP for Ketu North, and Hon Muntaka Mubarak, MP for Asawase were demoted from their roles as Minority leader, Deputy Minority leader, and Minority Chief Whip, respectively. Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, MP for Ajumako-Enyam-Essiam, Emmanuel Kofi Buah, MP for Ellembelle, and Kwame Agbodza, MP for Adaklu have taken their places as Minority leader, the Deputy Minority leader and Minority Chief Whip respectively.
How Can We Hand Over A Week Economy To A Weak leadership?
Meanwhile, the Member of the Parliament for the good people of Afigya Kwabre North in the Ashanti Region, hon Collins Adomako-Mensah has lamented the impact of the new minority leadership in parliament, branding it as an incompetent and weak working force.
Speaking in an interview, the Member of Parliamnet asserted that Ghana is experiencing an economic challenge and needs competent and good leadership to manage its affairs, rather than what he perceives to be weak leadership in the minority’s recent reshuffle.
The lawmaker claimed that the National Democratic Congress (NDC), new leadership are not qualified enough to manage a country if power is ever transferred to them, because in his opinion, they are incapable compared to the previous leaders.
“I always say that for the NDC, their problem is that they have been in government before. That’s their biggest problem. Now that Ghana is having a debt exchange programme because of an economic crisis, everybody knows that the economy is weak. Can you imagine handing a weak economy to weak leadership?
“How can we hand a weak economy to weak leadership? Because as we speak, we don’t even know who the minority leader is? Then it wont be a matter of debt exchange but rather double debt exchange. It will be chaotic, how do you do this?”
Hon Adomako
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