The Council of Elders of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has described as “regrettable and unfortunate” the role its Members of Parliament played in approving some of the President’s ministerial nominees.
According to a press statement signed by the Chairman of the Council of Elders, Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu, “both the Council and the Caucus leadership collectively agreed that the incident of 3rd March, 2021 was regrettable and unfortunate, and runs contrary to the principles and values of the party.”
Following this, the “Caucus leadership in Parliament have since pledged to uphold the principles and values of the party in our collective bid to develop our country.”
The March 3, incident led the party’s Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi who described the day as ‘Black Wednesday’ – our day of self-inflicted shame,” to lash out at Speaker of Parliament Alan Bagbin, Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu among others.
“This is the time for us to insist on the right changes in the leadership of the NDC group in Parliament or forget about them completely. The current leadership have lost their moral authority to lead and are not fit to sit on the front bench of the NDC side of the House.
“More importantly, it’s about time we understood that we don’t have any NDC Speaker of Parliament. No, we don’t! We have a Speaker who rode on the back of the NDC into office to pursue his own parochial agenda and nothing more. You trust them at your own peril,” he lamented on social media.
However, Speaker Alban Bagbin thinks otherwise as he emphasised that his responsibility as Speaker of Parliament is for all Ghanaians and not just the NDC.
He stated that “Now, I don’t belong to any party. I’m the Speaker of Ghana. I’m not a Speaker of NPP. I’m not a Speaker of NDC. I’m the Speaker of Ghana. And I must hold the balance.
In view of this, the NDC Council of Elders is urging the national leadership of the party to resolve issues relating to the Caucus leadership in Parliament.
It is also admonishing the “rank and file of the party to remain calm and provide the needed support to the Caucus to hold the Akufo-Addo-led government strictly to the principles of probity and accountability.”
“The Council remains confident that the party will emerge from this challenges more united and focused to take on the government, as the NDC strives in pursuit of an inclusive Ghana,” the statement added.
