The Member of Parliament for the Bawku Central constituency in the Upper East Region, Mahama Ayariga, claims he is not aware as to whether Minority MPs took money, in order to approve President Nana Akufo-Addo’s new ministerial nominees.
He said though the allegations are being bandied around after the nominees were approved by the Majority and many Minority MPs, despite an explicit order to the Minority by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) leadership to reject the ministers, he has no evidence to the effect that money changed hands for votes.
Speaking about the issue in an interview, the Bawku Central lawmaker said the approval of the nominees may largely be due to the extensive lobbying by the nominees.
“The numbers that voted to approve the nominees shocked me, but I can tell you that the nominees lobbied very hard, and it is one of the reasons that informed the [NDC] party to issue a statement to the Minority not to approve the nominees because the party found out that the Minority MPs were not finding it easy to resist the lobbying.
“It wasn’t entirely money because I heard people say some members took money from the nominees, but I don’t have evidence that people took money, and so I am careful about saying things like that. But I know that the nominees lobbied very hard and appealed to the relationships that they have with people in the Chamber.”
Mahama Ayariga
All six nominees were approved after a secret vote on Friday, March 24, flouting the directive of the NDC leadership.
The approval implied that Adansi Asokwa MP, K.T Hammond is set to become the Minister of Trade and Industry, after he is sworn into office by the President, with the Member of Parliament for Nhyiaeso, Dr. Stephen Amoah, serving as his deputy.
Bryan Acheampong, is heading to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Stephen Asamoah Boateng also heads to the Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs Ministry, Osei Bonsu Amoah, to the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, and Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, as a Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance.
The Minority MPs have come under fire after the approval, for betraying the leadership of the NDC.
Choose Integrity Over Money
Member of Parliament (MP) for Madina, Francis Xavier Sosu, called on delegates of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the area to choose integrity over money as the party goes to primaries to elect new Parliamentary Candidates and flagbearers.
His comment comes on the back of happenings in Parliament on Friday, March 24, 2023, urging them to choose transformational leadership with integrity over transactional leadership.
To him, if the NDC wants true men and women to lead the party going into the 2024 elections and beyond, their focus should be on integrity and not money. He made this known in a thread shared via Twitter.
“As we prepare for Parliamentary primaries in the light of what happened in Parliament recently, all delegates must resolve to choose INTEGRITY over MONEY“
“We must choose transformational leadership with integrity, over transactional leadership. If we want true men and women to serve and lead us, then we must collectively understand that LEADERSHIP WITH INTEGRITY IS WORTH MORE THAN MONEY.”
Francis Xavier Sosu
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