National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has once again justified the party’s decision to reshuffle the Minority leadership in Parliament.
At a press conference in the United Kingdom, the former General Secretary of the NDC stated that the changes were necessary because the Minority leadership was not working well together.
He also claimed that the minority leadership was having difficulties working with Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin.
“Why did we struggle to get an NDC person elected as a Speaker of Parliament? There are certainly some advantages and those advantages can be tapped into when your leadership is cooperating with the Speaker. So we cannot have a situation where NPP leadership is cooperating with the Speaker, and our NDC leadership has challenges cooperating with the Speaker.”
“And if you are given a party whose leadership in Parliament is not working together, what will you do, you make the changes, or you resign, and I’m not about to resign,” Mr. Asiedu Nketiah said.
The comments by the NDC’s National Chairman come after the party’s Council of Elders urged disgruntled members, Members of Parliament, and party leadership to refrain from making any further public statements in the aftermath of the change in Minority leadership.
The Council promised to issue an early and principled resolution on the matter in a statement issued on Saturday, January 28, 2023.
The NDC reshuffled its Parliamentary leadership last week, replacing Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu with Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson.
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, MP for Ellembelle, also took over as Deputy Minority Leader from Ketu North MP, James Klutse Avedzi, and Kwame Governs Agbodza took over as Minority Chief Whip from Asawase MP, Muntaka Mubarak.
Several NDC MPs, however, have described the leadership changes as undemocratic and deeply concerning, claiming that they were not consulted prior to the change.
Over 70 MPs later signed a petition opposing the party’s decision.
