Asiedu Nketia justifies shake-up in NDC parliamentary leadership

The newly elected National Chairman of the opposition NDC Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has justified the major shake-up in the leadership of the Minority Caucus in Parliament.

Although many have raised concerns about the timing and changes to the hierarchy, the longest-serving party member is convinced this is the surest way to win power in 2024.

To clear all doubts, Mr Nketia maintained that the change has nothing to do with the individual performances of the MPs but rather the change in the political arena.

“We started reorganisation of our structures in order to win power come 2024. We started at the branch level, to the constituencies, regional, national, and so the next in line was to take a look at the leadership in Parliament, and that is what we have done.

“In terms of timing, it is part of our reorganisation. You know, in life, the only constant thing is change, and since the environment is changing, leadership must change to suit the new environment.

“We know, for instance, that going into election 2024, the economy is going to be the major battleground, many of the debates will be centred on the economy, so you better put your best man in the economy forward, and that is what we have done.

“And we also looked at energy, petroleum and electricity challenges, so we needed to settle on Kofi Armah Buah, our former minister, to be the deputy minority leader. The other area is infrastructure, and generally, that is what informed the changes,” he explained.

The NDC National Chairman also noted the need for all 16 regions in the country to have a fair representation in the party hierarchy.

According to him, some regions, for the longest time, have not had any leader in the party, thus the need for change.

“We are bound to organise ourselves in such a way that we provide a regional balance in everything, and since it is very difficult to get all 16 regions in five appointments, our view is that the balance cannot be secured with one segment of the party and also, the elections have turned up other leaders, so we need to create that fair balance.

“When you look at Western Region, it is one region that has not been represented on the front bench in a long time, so it is a significant region that we need to look at. So when we got Kofi Armah Buah, we thought it was a very good choice.

“Central Region is the same; we haven’t got a leader there in a long time, so we need to get this type of spread, and when you look at the two regions that gave us the highest number of MPs, that is Greater Accra And Volta regions, those regions had to be represented,” he added.

Mr Nketia reiterated that the change was necessary for a win in December 2024.

“If you’re a football coach, and the team you’re facing, the game style you’re adopting is not in keeping with the players you put out there, you’ll do yourself a lot of good to change.

“Releasing Ato Forson from the Ranking Member of Finance will also unearth Honourable Adongo, so you have two key fighters in Parliament. One is fighting as a leader, the other is fighting as a Ranking Member, and I think when their powers combine, it is only Captain Planet who can challenge them,” he said in a Joy News interview monitored by theghanareport.com.

Earlier, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) announced that the former deputy Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, will take over from Haruna Iddrisu as the Minority Leader.

The Ellembelle MP Kofi Armah Buah will act as the Deputy Minority Leader in Parliament.

MP for Adaklu Kwame Agbodza will replace MP for Asawase Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak as Minority Chief Whip.

Asked if the said legislators had been informed prior to the press release announcing the reshuffle, Mr Asiedu Nketia said a special letter acknowledging their efforts and contribution had been sent to them.