NDC warned against changing minority leader

Former Majority Leader, Cletus Avoka, has warned the National Democratic Congress (NDC) against any attempt to change the current minority leadership in parliament.

He said any move to do so could spell doom for the party.

“There should be no change in leadership of the minority, I will not advocate that. I think the totality of their performance is positive. Haruna and his people have done well.  If you make the mistake of changing them, you divide the caucus. In the interest of the party and in the interest of Ghana’s Parliament, we don’t want to rock the boat.”

While admitting that the Haruna Iddrisu-led administration may have had its challenges, Mr. Avoka said they had performed creditably since they took over.

“On the balance of achievement, I think Haruna Iddrisu has done well to continue to be the leader of the NDC caucus,” Cletus Avoka told Starr FM.

The minority has been hit with internal wrangling following the approval of some ministerial nominees, the latest being Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.

Some members of the caucus have openly dissociated themselves from the reason given by their leadership in giving consensus approval to the nominee.

Following these agitations within the party, North Tongu MP, Okudzeto Ablakwa resigned from parliament’s Appointments Committee.

Reacting to the resignation, Mr. Avoka, who is a senior member of the NDC, described it as a hasty decision.

“Ablakwa’s resignation from the appointments committee is very unfortunate. He’s a gentleman, he’s a good MP but I don’t think resignation can be said to be the best. I’ll be surprised if more MPs resign from the appointments committee because we have met and ironed out our differences.

Mr. Ablakwa in his resignation noted he had taken the decision on the basis of principle and personal conviction.

Reconstituting minority leadership

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has revealed that it is considering reconstituting its leadership in parliament.

According to the party’s General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketsia, this happens after every general election.

However, the changes have not been made in this current eighth Parliament due to the NDC’s litigation over some parliamentary seats.

Mr. Asiedu Nketia said “there is some work in progress. After every election, we reconstitute the leadership of Parliament even if it means reconfirming them. We haven’t done that yet because of the court cases.

“We started but got to a point and felt that we need to finish with the court cases first. So it is something we are considering. But there will be a definite statement. I am sure by the time, they [Parliament] return from the break, we would have taken this decision”.