Asiedu Nketiah justifies removal of Haruna Iddrisu as Minority Leader
The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has explained that the changes made in the leadership of the Minority Caucus in Parliament form part of the reorganisation of the party ahead of the 2024 elections.
“We are making the changes as part of the reorganisation of the party ahead of the 2024 general election, which started from the branches then came to the national and now in Parliament and will be concluded with the party's presidential and parliamentary primaries,” he said.
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Mr Nketiah was speaking to the Daily Graphic Tuesday (Jan 24, 2023) to flesh out changes the party has effected in the leadership of its Parliamentary caucus ahead of the commencement of the Third Session of the Eight Parliament of February 7, 2023.
Changes
The party replaced the current Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, with the Ranking Member on the Finance Committee, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam.
Per a letter dated January 23, 2023, signed by the General Secretary of the NDC, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, and addressed to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, the MP for Ellembele, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, is now the Deputy Minority Leader, replacing the current Deputy Minority Leader, Dr James Klutse Avedzi.
The party also named the MP for Adaklu, Kwame Governs Agbodza, as the Minority Whip, to replace the incumbent Minority Whip, Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka.
However, the party’s leadership retained the positions of the incumbent First Deputy Minority Whip and MP for Banda, Ahmed Ibrahim, and the Second Deputy Whip and MP for Ada, Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe-Ghansah.
The letter stated that the “new leadership would be charged to recommend consequential changes in the ranking membership to the headquarters of the party for approval.”
The changes in the NDC party’s leadership positions appear to have taken many by surprise as it is the first time during the tenure of a Parliament that a party has initiated changes in the front bench of its leadership.
“We are positioning ourselves for election 2024 and everybody knows that the election will be fought on the economy, so we put our best economic foot forward that is why we brought in Dr Ato Forson as the leader," Mr Nketiah further explained.
Mr Nketiah said aside from the area of specialisation, it was also for regional balance purposes in the leadership of the party.
“We realised that Western Region has for a long time been sidelined so when you find Armah Kofi Buah, who is an energy person in there it was to correct that," he stated.
Needful
However, Mr Nketiah told the Daily Graphic that whenever there was a need to make changes in the leadership of the Parliamentary caucus of the party it was done, saying the outgoing leadership had been the longest serving.
“The last time such changes were made was about six years ago and the outgoing leadership of the Minority caucus in Parliament has been the longest serving,” he stated.
The National Chairman of the party stated further that the party made the changes in their leadership in Parliament depending on the needs and exigencies of the time.