According to Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketia, National Chairman of the NDC, the Party’s leadership made the decision to replace its parliamentary leadership “for valid reasons” without consulting the Minority Caucus in Parliament.
Speaking to Party members during a news conference in Britain, United Kingdom, he said “It was not ‘realistic’ to inform the Caucus in advance given that the decision would have resulted in changes in their leadership.”
Apart from the Minority Caucus, Mr. Nketia stated during the news conference, that “everyone who needed to be consulted was consulted.”
“It wasn’t practical; so in such matters, you take the decision and inform them and justify it,” he said
On January 24, the NDC made a few adjustments to its parliamentary leadership.
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, a ranking member of the finance committee and a representative for the Central Region’s Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam constituency, has taken over as minority leader from Haruna Iddrisu, a representative for Tamale South.
As the Deputy Minority Leader and Minority Whip, respectively, Mr. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, MP for Ellembelle, has taken over for Mr. James Klutse Avedzi, MP for Ketu North. Mr. Kwame Governs Agbodza, MP for Adaklu, has also taken over for Mr. Muntaka Mubarak, MP for Asawase.
Some NDC Members of Parliament have since come out publicly against the decision after it infuriated some factions of the Party.
The decisions, according to Mr. Nketia, were made with the Party’s best interests in mind. He accepted full responsibility for the choice of the new parliamentary leadership, dismissing reports that the move had divided the Party, adding that the decision had rather “brought some new excitement on the front of NDC”.
Mr. Nketia responded to questions regarding the timing of the change by stating that the Party should have changed its leadership in the Parliament in March 2021 but did not because of the Presidential Election Petition lawsuit it had filed in court, among other factors.
“The old leadership was selected based on what was needed at the time and they have discharged their work creditably.
“Now there is a new set of emerging challenges so it is only reasonable to go for leadership that possesses the skills to set that would be able to discharge the responsibilities that have emerged because of the changing times,” Mr. Nketia said.
The Council of Elders of the NDC has meanwhile urged its MPs and the Party’s leadership to exercise caution and refrain from saying anything that would inflame the group’s apparent disagreement over the revisions.
This came about after a few Minority MPs asked the Council to get involved in the decision to calm things down.
