The Majority Leader in Parliament, has dispelled claims that the former Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, was doing the bidding of the Majority caucus in Parliament as Judas Iscariot did to Jesus Christ by betraying him for thirty pieces of silver.
Some rumours that made the rounds, following the shake-up of the Minority Leadership in Parliament by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) suggested that the former leader of the minority group, was selling out to the majority side of the House, hence the need to replace him.
But speaking on the floor of Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Suame in the Ashanti Region, said such claims are untrue.
“Let me state emphatically and unambiguously that no such thing happened. I had developed a very harmonious working relationship with them [old minority leaders] but people then read meanings into it.
“The business of the Minority Leader is to assist the Majority Leader in facilitating the business of the government and if someone does that, it shouldn’t be perceived as selling out to the majority.”
At the resumption of the Parliament yesterday after Christmas and New Year break, the Speaker, Alban Bagbin, commended the ex-Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu and his team.
While welcoming lawmakers back to the House, Mr Bagbin, wished the outgoing minority leadership well in their future endeavours.
“The former members of the [Minority] leadership led by Haruna Iddrisu must be applauded because their record of performance is visible for all to see, and I hope the new leadership will learn from their fountain of wisdom, a trove of wealth and experience.”
“What I can say to the former leadership is, the Lord is your shepherd, you shall not want and when one door closes, another one opens and I tell you for sure that the opened doors are better and higher than the closed doors. Look at the open doors and not the closed doors and with this, I welcome all of you once more”.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) changed its leadership in Parliament on January 24, 2023.
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, replaced Haruna Iddrisu as Minority Leader.
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, MP for Ellembelle, also replaced Ketu North MP, James Klutse Avedzi, as the Deputy Minority Leader, while Kwame Agbodza took over from Asawase MP, Muntaka Mubarak as the Minority Chief Whip.
Ahmed Ibrahim and Comfort Doyoe-Ghansah, were the only two members of the Haruna-led administration that maintained their positions as First and Second Deputy Whips respectively.
Mr Bagbin officially welcomed the new Minority Leadership to Parliament and warned them to prepare themselves for the hot duty bestowed on them by executives of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
“The new leaders have all been in this house for a while and are very conversant with the culture and law of Parliament. I have confidence in their ability to meet the high expectations of our stakeholders. On behalf of the House, I warmly welcome them to the hot seat of the leadership of Parliament. Congratulations and I wish you well.”
A meeting between the NDC MPs, national executives of the NDC, and the party’s Council of Elders on Monday, was used to outdoor the new Minority leadership.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, the National Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah said the concerns raised have offered the party the opportunity to establish a framework for the running of the Minority caucus in Parliament.
“You can see from the enthusiasm that the challenges that arose from the announcement of the new leadership of our Caucus have all been resolved.”
The Chairman also disclosed that the party has learned some key lessons from the row that accompanied the announcement of the reshuffle and has led to the formulation of a framework to determine the leadership of the Caucus in the future.
“The challenges that we have been through in the few days have produced very beneficial results and it has led to the formulation of a framework for leading our Caucus in Parliament
“One of the takeaways from this meeting is for us to go and quickly expedite action for the formulation of a framework of leading our Caucus in Parliament in the future.”
Meanwhile, one of the petitioners who called for a suspension of the reshuffle for further engagements, Dr Dominic Ayine, said the group will support the new leaders in the discharge of their duties.
The former Minority Chief whip, Muntaka Mubarak, subsequently issued a statement accepting the decision by the NDC National Executive to reshuffle the Minority leaders in Parliament.
This was after ex-President John Dramani Mahama intervened and held discussions with the Member of Parliament for Asawase.
In a Facebook post, the former Chief Whip wrote “to all our supporters within and without. I had a lengthy meeting with my big brother, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, on Saturday evening over the parliamentary reshuffle. I want to, first of all, thank him for his words of advice and encouragement to me as a younger brother”.
“His Excellency’s intervention has brought an end to all the brouhaha associated with the reshuffle.”
“We are in the interest of our party NDC. We need to move on as a party and channel all our energies towards the 2024 elections.
“I thank all our chiefs, Queen Mothers Imams, and supporters for your prayers and solidarity. I pray for Allah’s guidance in all our affairs. Long live NDC long live Ghana,” he concluded.
Haruna Iddrisu, later also accepted his reshuffle. MyJoyOnline.com quoted sources close to him as saying he also respects the intervention by former President Mahama and the NDC Council of Elders.
According to the sources, Mr Iddrisu wants to maintain a “golden silence” on the matter.
However, he has pledged to fully support the new leadership led by Dr Cassiel Ato Forson.
The source is said to have added that Mr Iddrisu’s main preoccupation now is ensuring victory for the NDC in 2024 elections both presidential and parliamentary.
