After agreeing to bury their differences in the wake of the brouhaha surrounding the removal of Haruna Iddrisu, and Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak as a Minority Leader and Chief Whip in Parliament respectively, the National Executive body of the NDC have set a committee to prepare a legal framework that will give room for the appointment and removal of caucus leaders in parliamentary.
The idea, the NDC says, will help strengthen the party and its quest to promote democracy and good governance.
The member of parliament for the Zebilla Constituency, Cletus Avoka, made this known to our reporter Moses Apiah, after the over sixty members of Parliament who initially rejected the decision for the change reassessed their demands.
According to the MP, they (over 60 MPs and National Executives) have agreed that they should rather focus their energy towards rescuing power come 2024 instead of “Washing their dirty pants outside”.
“We those who petitioned on the basis that the procedure adopted by the executives of the party was not the best. So, we met with the council of elders for the second time, (that was in the morning), and (in the afternoon ) we met again, the council of elders, the national executive committee, led by the Chairman and General Secretary of the party we met and we all agreed that we don’t have a legal framework which specifies how to caucus leaders in the parliamentary can be appointed and removed, so it is still grey area. So, the party executives have agreed to begin the process as soon as possible to design the framework that will give space to such action going forward. And as the process is going on, we all agreed to bury our differences because Ghanaians are not looking at who leads in parliament but how we as NDC can rescue them come 2024 election from this NPP leadership. Even before all that Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, and Hon. Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak has agreed to the change. So, this morning the Speak of Parliament will announce the new leadership of the minority caucus.”
Meanwhile, a press release signed by the Chairman of the Council of Elders, Alhaji Mahama Iddrissu on 6th February 2023 indicated that they have been able to resolve the impasse over the appointment of the new leadership of the minority caucus.
“NDC COUNCIL OF ELDERS AMICABLY RESOLVES IMPASSE OVER APPOINTMENT OF NEW LEADERSHIP OF MINORITY CAUCUS.
Over the past several days, the Council of Elders of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has been holding a series of meetings on a petition submitted by a group of NDC Members of Parliament on the changes to the party’s Parliamentary leadership announced earlier by the Party Leadership.
The Council approached the engagements conscious of the need for an early resolution that will be in the best interest of the party and mindful of the imperatives of unity and cohesion at a time Ghanaians are looking up to the NDC to rescue the country from the dismal state of affairs which has been the hallmark of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government.
While recognizing that the party leadership was within its rights to make appointments or rotate the leadership of the NDC caucus in Parliament as has been the case since the inception of the Parliament of the 4th Republic, the Council is of the view that the processes need to be improved. Accordingly, the Council noted that in the instant case, the approach, level of consultation, timing as well as the mode and manner of notifying the affected persons could have been better.
That notwithstanding, the Council implored our Honorable MPs to accept the decision of the party leadership and work with the newly appointed leadership of the caucus. This position was discussed with representatives of the petitioners who fully appreciated the stance of Council and offered to communicate same to the petitioners.
The Council has advised the leadership of the party to as a matter of urgency, accelerate work on the draft framework of rules for to guide decisions relating to matters such as the appointment of parliamentary leadership of the party. The Council will ensure that this framework is in place within the shortest possible time.
The Council regrets the media altercations that took place in the aftermath of the leadership changes and the failure of the protagonists to resort to the internal grievance resolution mechanisms of the party to address their concerns. The Council is of hopes that such political point-scoring which is not part of our political ethos will be avoided in the future. All concerned parties have accepted the Council’s advice and pledged to abide by it.
The Council of Elders acknowledges the leadership and sterling achievements of the outgoing leaders of the NDC caucus namely, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, Hon. James Klutse Avedzi and Hon. Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak who have raised the profile of the NDC minority caucus and demonstrated that indeed it is the NDC who has the men and women capable of turning the fortunes of Ghanaians around. Their efforts have contributed to reassuring Ghanaians that the NDC party is ready to assume power and rescue the nation from the depths of despair and desperation. Indeed, the NDC party must not and will never forget the contributions of our three respected comrades in improving the electoral fortunes of the party.
The Council of Elders hereby calls for togetherness and unity of purpose within the minority caucus and urges all members of the party to let peace prevail. Let us not do anything to hamper the clear opportunity the NDC has to emerge victorious in the 2024 elections.
It is our hope that the new Minority Caucus leadership will provide the leadership that will guarantee a resounding victory for the NDC in the 2024 general elections so that we can together rescue our beloved country from the hands of the failed Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government.
Signed.
Alhaji Mahama Iddrissu
(Chairman, Council of Elders)”
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Moses Apiah|Ghana
