Minister-designate for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs has declared his stance on the longstanding LGBTQ debate. According to Mr Stephen Asamoah Boateng, he is opposed to same-sex marriage in the country.
“Same-sex legalising in Ghana, I am opposed to it,” he said.
He made this comment when he appeared before Parliament’s Appointment Committee on Monday for vetting.
Mr Asamoah Boateng’s comment was in response to Awutu Senya West MP, Gizella Tetteh’s question about his view on the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Ghana,
Over the last few years, the issue has been a hot topic in Ghana with a bill – anti-LGBTQI currently before Parliament to criminalise the activities of the LGBTQ+ community in the country.
Touching on what his legacy would be when given the nod as the sector minister since he has two years to be in office, Mr Asamoah Boateng noted that he would fight for the Ministry to assume its rightful position as custodians of tradition.
He further stated that he would ensure that “our traditional authorities are lifted higher to the dignified and noble status.”
“Our Christian and Moslem leadership must be given the necessary support so they can get congregation to understand that we are one nation which is a sovereign state … so my role is to make sure that we all work together on this aspect and not bring trouble. In the case of conflict, we will manage it and jaw jaw,” he added.
MP for Adansi Asokwa and Minister designate for Trades and Industry, Kobina Tahir Hammond, has cautioned Minority Leader Ato Forson to be circumspect about his utterances, especially during his engagement with the media, since he could be taken out of context and misreported.
K.T Hammond was responding to questions at his vetting for the role of Trades Minister when Ato Forson who was a member of the vetting committee asked about a statement a news portal had attributed to him (K.T Hammond).
According to Mr Forson, in the publication on mps.com, dated April 4, 2014, K.T Hammond had accused former President John Mahama of mismanaging the economy back then in 2014.
“Then, you were the Ranking Member of Mines and Energy and during a press conference captured by mps.com, you said: ‘blame Mahama’s incompetence for economic woes,” Ato Forson said.
But in response, Mr Hammond vehemently denied ever making that statement.
“I think Ato has made a quantum leap to where he’s gotten to now. He doesn’t even ascertain whether I wrote it or I didn’t write it. I don’t know what he’s talking about,” K.T Hammond emphasised.
He, thus, warned Mr Forson whom he (K.T Hammond) described as a potential Finance Minister to be wary of his utterances with the media since they could be used against him in the near future.
“I don’t see my language in the kind of things that he said. It is completely unfair for the Minority Leader to question me on a document I have no knowledge about. I know he [Ato Forson] mentioned some portal and they reported something. Be careful, Minority Leader. I’m praying for you sometime later you might want to be Finance Minister. Be careful when you get these portals or news media and you start quoting and you fall in trouble,” he said.
Mr Hammond was appointed by President Akufo-Addo on February 7, 2023, to be at the helm of affairs at the Trade and Industry Ministry. If approved by Parliament after his vetting, Mr Hammond will succeed Alan Kyerematen who resigned earlier this year to pursue his political carrier.
A pressure group called OccupyGhana has requested the government to retract its response to a question about the status of the planned conduct of Public Officials Bill 2022.
OccupyGhana maintains that it is being caught by the government’s letter’s secret and confidential labelling.
OccupyGhana requested an update on the status of the relevant Bill in a letter to the Attorney-General (AG) and Minister of Justice in August 2022.
It used the Right to Information law to request information about the actions being taken by the proper authorities in response to recent claims of conflict of interest “levelled against some government employees.”
After six months, the government’s reaction to the pressure has been classified as confidential.
However, OccupyGhana suspects this is a deliberate attempt by the government to trap it and requests that the response be immediately withdrawn.
“Our request to you in the exercise of our constitutional right to information was not confidential. We were certainly not seeking information that constituted a state secret. We just wanted to know the status of the Draft Bill, since we knew it had been submitted with a Memorandum for Cabinet’s approval. Cabinet’s decision, which would mean the Executive will or will not forward it to Parliament for debate and enactment into law, is not a matter that is confidential or a state secret.”
“Unfortunately, the ‘trap’ of those markings means that if we disclose this momentous and disappointing decision to the public, we could, arguably, be charged with offences under the State Secrets Act, 1962 (Act 101). Although we think any such prosecution would be wicked and would certainly fail, we do not want to go down that path”, the statement read in parts.
The draft Conduct of Public Officers Bill, 2022 proposes, among others, the removal of the unconstitutional extension of time given to public officers to declare assets and liabilities.
The draft Bill is however yet to obtain Cabinet approval for onward consideration and approval by Parliament.
OccupyGhana has in the past been pushing for the swift passage of the Bill.
Here is the full statement from OccupyGhana
RE: RIGHT TO INFORMATION REQUEST ON THE STATUS OF THE DRAFT CONDUCT OF PUBLIC OFFICERS BILL, 2022
We have received your letter dated 14 February 2023 (your ref: OPCA.3/3/140223), responding to our inquiries on the above-matter. You have finally communicated to us, six months after we first wrote to you, Cabinet’s decision on whether or not it would approve the above-mentioned Draft Memorandum and Bill for submission to Parliament. For the communication of such a momentous decision by the Executive, we are taken aback that your two-page final response to our Right to Information Request is boldly stamped ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ on the first page and marked ‘SECRET’ on the second page.
Our request to you in the exercise of our constitutional right to information was not confidential. We were certainly not seeking information that constituted a state secret. We just wanted to know the status of the Draft Bill, since we knew it had been submitted with a Memorandum for Cabinet’s approval. Cabinet’s decision, which would mean the Executive will or will not forward it to Parliament for debate and enactment into law, is not a matter that is confidential or a state secret.
Unfortunately, the ‘trap’ of those markings means that if we disclose this momentous and disappointing decision to the public, we could, arguably, be charged with offences under the State Secrets Act, 1962 (Act 101). Although we think any such prosecution would be wicked and would certainly fail, we do not want to go down that path. It is simply unthinkable and befuddling that Cabinet would take a decision to either approve or refuse approval of a Draft Bill that seeks to regulate the conduct of public officers, declaration of assets, etc, and which is already in the public domain, but would want its decision on the matter and the reasons for it to remain confidential and/or a state secret. We dare Cabinet to be bold and allow us to share your letter with Ghanaians, and not cower behind the State Secrets Act on a matter like this.
We therefore invite you to communicate to us in writing, your withdrawal of those markings, so that we may inform the people of Ghana of the Government’s interest or otherwise in working to ensure that the Draft Bill becomes law that will regulate the conduct of public officers, for the several reasons you state in that letter.
Kindly respond at your earliest convenience.
We will follow your lead and send copies of this letter to all the persons you copied your letter to. But we will also copy all press houses because our letters to you are neither confidential nor a state secret.
Yours in the service of God and Ghana
OccupyGhana
cc. Chief of Staff Office of the President Jubilee House Accra
Secretary to the President Office of the President Jubilee House Accra
Attorney-General & Minister for Justice Office of the Attorney-General & Minister for Justice Accra
Minister for Information Ministry of Information Accra
Ato Forson noted that this is according to a report by the Bank of Ghana.
After the government announced its decision to exchange domestic debts, questions were raised about the viability of banks and how they were going to survive, since most banks were engaged in government business.
However, after the initial resistance, the Ghana Bankers Association and the Insurers association reached an agreement with the government on the terms of the programme.
According to Ato Forson, the debt exchange programme has shown that the government is looking to transfer its bankruptcy to the private sector.
Speaking on the floor of parliament on February 16, 2023, Ato Forson asked the finance minister to be cautious about how he is embarking on the debt exchange programme.
“The financial sector, don’t be surprised that by the time they are done and dusted, we will have to engage in banking sector cleanup again. Because our banks are going to obviously collapse. I have cited the Bank of Ghana report that says that 17 banks are at risk because of what is happening. I urge the finance minister to be careful in what he is doing not to transfer the bankruptcy to the private sector,” he said.
KT Hammond, the minister of trades and industry nominee, has expressed displeasure over the importation oftripe, also known as “yemuadie” in Ghana.
Appearing before the Appointments Committee of Parliamenton Monday, the MP for Adansi-Asokwa suggested that the importation of tripe and other goods into Ghana must cease.
The lawmaker lamented that millions of dollars are spent on the importation of tripe into the country adding that such importations put pressure on the local currency.
The MP asked, “why is it that everything you can think about is being imported into the country? These importations have terrible effects on our foreign exchange reserves. I think it’s about time we took a serious look at this particular issue. I’m told a committee was put up by cabinet to deal specifically with this matter”.
He added, “When I looked at some of the issues that have been raised, I was scandalised. I’m told it’s being decided at that level [cabinet] that we should be looking at about 50 specific areas. I’m scandalised at what appears to be in paragraph 4, is that what we are importing to Ghana? We are importing guts, bladders, stomachs of animals to Ghana to complement our foods. And that alone totalled about one hundred and sixty-four million, five hundred and seventy-five thousand plus some hundreds of dollars[the year under review]. I thought this is a little bit of a scandal. It’s not only this but this is what I find scandalising”.
He opined that the country produces more than what it imports from other countries hence the government must sanitise the system.
“There are other things on the list such as rice, and beverage. I happened to find out that we were smuggling rice into the country without disclosing it. Because if you look at how much we produce locally, and how much we consume, and you do the subtraction, there’s a gap of about 500-600 metric tons which we consume that are not accounted for in the system.
“There are other ones too, second-hand clothing, vehicles, there are quite a lot that government feels should ensure some sanity in the system,” the Trades Minister-designate suggested.
If he sails through the vetting, the MP will replace Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto who resigned from Ministry to pursue his presidential ambition.
Ghana is becoming more industrialized due toAkufo-Addoadministration’s One District One Factory (1D1F) strategy, this is according to Kobina Tahir Hammond, the minister designate for trade and industry.
Answering questions at the Appointment Committee of parliament on Monday, February 20 during his vetting, he indicated that 100 factors are currently operating under the initiative with 150 others at various stages of completion.
“The ID1F is fundamental towards industrialization,” the Adansi Asokwa Member of Parliament said.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has commissioned several of the factories under the initiative.
For instance, he commissioned a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant atLarkplekuin Ningo Prampram as part of efforts to boost the local manufacture of serum and vaccines.
The $35 million plant, which has one of the highest production capacities in West Africa.
The Atlantic life sciences company’s plant is expected to manufacture infusions and anesthetic medicines, serum, vaccines, ear, eye and nasal drops for the Ghanaian and West African markets.
President Akufo-Addo said the factory underscored the kind of support given by government to the private sector to take advantage of economic opportunities in the country.
Mr Akufo-Addo said “I am glad to join all of you here to commission the new factory of Atlantic Life Sciences Limited, the company operating under government’s One District One Factory programme.
“The establishment of tis factory is a concrete manifestation that the new paradigm of economic developments with this administration is vigorously pursuing or promoting value addition and industrial activities, within a conducive and business-friendly environment can make headway.
“IDIF seeks to address the challenge of poverty and widespread inequality among rural and peri urban communities through the establishment of an institutional framework that will attract private sector investment in rural economic activity, create jobs and raise income levels.”
On Friday, 2nd September 2022, he also commissioned two other factories stating that “it is the first time I have done so since becoming President, and it is a day I will not forget.”
President Akufo-Addo’s first port of call was the APPED Cylinder Factory, which is currently employing some two hundred and fifty (250) people, and is expected to employ some five hundred (500) people at full capacity.
The company was established in January 2019 to participate in Government’s flagship industrialization programme. Indeed, construction started in 2019 and was completed in the year 2021 with the commencement of commercial production and operations in the month of December the same year.
APPEB Company is the largest Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders manufacturing in Ghana, in terms of production capacity with an installed capacity of 4,000 to 5,000 (6kg /15kg) gas cylinders per day. The current production capacity is about 2000 cylinders per day due to the current market demand. The company imports mild steal from China as the main raw material for production.
“We will continue to enhance the existing incentive framework designed to make 1D1F designated companies more competitive and sustainable. The incentives, which include tax holidays, import duty waivers, and interest rate subsidies, are designed to help build the capacities and competitiveness of these enterprises, and to position them for greater productivity and efficiency,” he said.
Parliament’s Appointments Committee is currently vetting President Akufo-Addo’s ministerial nominees.
Minister-designate for Trade and Industry, Kobina Tahir Hammond, who is the Member of Parliament for Adansi-Asokwa, is first to face the Committee chaired by Joseph Osei Owusu.
MP for Nhyiaeso, Stephen Amoah, the Deputy Trade Minister nominee and Mr Bryan Acheampong, the MP for Abetifi Constituency, expected to head the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, will face the Committee today to justify their nomination.
The Finance Minister Ken Ofori Attaon Thursday, February 16, 2023 presented a statement on government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme(DDEP).
The finance imnister, during his presentation, said all pensioners who failed to tender their old bonds for new ones under the exercise have been exempted from the programme.
Also present in the house to witness proceedings were members of the Pensioner Bondholders Forum who had been picketing at the finance ministry for the past eight working days, protesting against the inclusion of their investments in the programme.
As is usual of him, the finance minister, Ken Ofori Atta, began his presentation with a quotation from scripture.
“Mr speaker I come in peace and as expected, if I look at Psalm 105, it says that let’s give thanks and note that we should rejoice with the lord and make his great deeds known to people,” he said, attracting varied reactions from both sides of the house.
He then proceeded to make his presentation to the house, explaining why the government had taken some decisions for the DDP.
After, his presentation, the MPs had time to react to what had been said and during that period, three more scriptures were quoted by some MPs.
The first to quote from the Bible was the MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who was disappointed in the minister’s decision to rejoice in the face of the country’s economic crisis.
“Mr. Speaker, what is even so obnoxious and irritating is the minister’s opening remarks that this is the time to rejoice in the Lord. Jesus Christ of Nazareth! The minister forgets that in Proverbs 29:2, the Bible says that when the wicked rule, the people mourn, the people groan, there is pain. There is pain and anxiety when the wicked rule.”
He added that “This is no time to rejoice. If the minister is still rejoicing, then our problems are bigger than I ever imagined. Because it tells us that the president, his vice president, and his finance minister are in a bubble; they are totally out of touch. They are in a world of their own, and they are still in a rejoicing mood.”
Then came the turn of the MP for Nhyiaso, Stephen Amoah, who is popularly called Sticka. Mr Amoah sought to assure the pensioners who were present in the house that the finance minister’s quote did not mean he was happy with the country’s present situation.
“1 Thessalonians 15: 16-18, the Bible states emphatically without any ambiguity, that in all circumstances we should give thanks to God and that is the will of God for his children. So our fathers and mothers it’s not that finance minister is happy with what is happening but finance minister believes in God, we all believe in God and God says that whether we’re going through pain or pleasure we should give thanks…”
He was of the view that the minority members were pushing things out of proportion.
The Member of Parliament for Asunafo South, Eric Opoku, refused to be left out of the scripture quoting as he referenced parts of the bible when he had his turn.
He made reference to a time in the Bible when a king went to the older generation for advice when important decisions needed to be made.
“Mr Speaker, typical of the finance minister, he began the statement with a quotation from the bible and I’d like to do the same thing. Mr Speaker, 1 Kings 12:6 Solomon [Rehoboam] once sought the expertise of old men who helped him make important decisions about the kingdom of Israel but Mr Speaker, he did not touch the livelihood of these old men. He sought their expertise but never touched the livelihood of these people,” he said.
The scripture reads “Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.”
He further expressed his displeasure in the government and by extension, the finance minister’s decision to include pensioners in the domestic debt exchange programme.
“He wants to fall on the savings of the aged, our mothers and fathers who have contributed their quota to this state and as we speak, they don’t have anything to live on except the little that they have saved. The minister is saying that without the savings of these people Ghana cannot get out of the trouble.”
For him, the nation would be in a better place if the president reduced the size of his government and collapse some government institutions which are not functional.
Like other minority MPs before him, Mr Opoku ended his submission by calling on the finance minister to resign stressing that he will not be forgiven for what he has done to the country.
Reacting to this however, the speaker of parliament told the MP that even though he started his submission with a quote, his ending statement was “not biblical at all.”
Seeking to respond to this, Eric Opoku said “There is forgiveness but in the judgement day no one will be forgiven.”
In an effort to push the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to submit the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) for approval to Parliament, the Minority has submitted a private members’ motion.
The NDC MPs are asking that the whole government’s debt restructuring package be brought before the House for additional discussion in a motion filed on Friday, February 17.
They hold the opinion that in their capacity as Ghanaians’ representatives, they must necessarily contribute to the program.
Already, the Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has said his side will also file a motion to compel government to exempt individual bondholders from the programme.
Speaking in an interview with JoyNews on Thursday, the Ajumako Enyan Essiam legislator said they will do whatever is possible to ensure investors are protected.
“Our intention today was to serve notice that tomorrow the NDC Minority will be filing a motion to compel the government to exempt individual bondholders and pension funds and pensioners from the domestic debt exchange.”
Dr Ato Forson explained that the decision to file the motion is to ensure that an issuer exemption is granted to bondholders who had faith in the NDC government to invest in risk-free bonds.
This, he asserted, is because “the Constitution is clear that before you go for a loan, the terms and conditions must be approved by Parliament.”
Following an economic downturn and difficulties in servicing its debt, the government implemented the domestic debt exchange programme to give itself more time to meet its fiscal obligations.
However, the programme upon its announcement faced stiff opposition from groups and individuals.
Without the debt exchange programme, the government warned that the nation’s economy would collapse.
Ghana is currently requesting a $3 billion bailout from the IMF to bolster the struggling national economy.
Before the Bretton Woods institution’s board would evaluate Ghana’s request, one of the requirements is the domestic debt restructuring scheme.
A staff-level agreement between Ghana and the IMF was achieved in December, opening the door for the $3 billion rescue.
Kwaku Kwarteng, the member of parliament for Obuasi West, wants parliament to reduce spending as well in order to salvage the faltering national economy.
Mr. Kwarteng who served as a Deputy Finance Minister under the first term of the Akufo-Addoadministration says MPs should stop using V-8s and stop receiving ex-gratia at the end of every term of office.
The Chairman of the Finance Committee was contributing to the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme discussion on the floor of Parliament, when the Finance Minster, Ken Ofori-Atta appeared before the House to brief them on the DDEP.
“Mr. Speaker how many times have we not heard the people who elected us into office say that there are issues with the V8s that we use? How many times have we not heard our people complain about the ex-gratia we take?
“Mr. Speaker I’m making the point that the problem we have on our hands today is not just a debt treatment matter. There is the need to deal with a fundamental weakness that has characterised the management of our economy for decades,” MP for Obuasi West said.
Isaac Adongo, the member of parliament for Bolgatanga Central, is urging the government to respect the power and will of the people and take the appropriate action by presenting the full particulars of its proposed debt restructuring to parliamentfor consideration, approval or rejection.
Mr. Adongo said it is unconstitutional for the President and his Finance Minister to delegate the power to execute a debt restructuring programme to themselves without considering the input of the people.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Citi FM, the Bolgatanga Central legislator averred that “restructuring the debt of this country is too big for one person to do without taking the input of the people into consideration and that is why we want it brought to Parliament for approval.”
He added that “the president even knows that he doesn’t have the power to take some decisions without the approval of Parliament. The mandate of the people resides in Parliament and the President and the Finance Minister need to come to Parliament to seek approval because, without that, it has long-standing implications on the sovereignty of Ghana.”
Speaking on the back of a private members’ motion filed for a resolution on the domestic debt exchange programme, Mr. Adongo stressed that legislators “were elected to protect this country and that is what we are trying to do. We don’t want someone to appropriate powers to themselves and take decisions for the entire population without their concern.”
He also disclosed that the Speaker of Parliament has given his blessings to members of the Minority who filed the motion.
“We have approached the Speaker and we have the Speaker’s blessings and Thursday, he made it clear that if any side approaches him on such a motion, he will be inclined to admit it and so we do hope that it will be admitted.”
The five members who filed the motion include; Cassiel Ato Forson, Governs Kwame Agbodza, Mahama Ayariga, Isaac Adongo, and Rockson-Nelson Defeamekpor.
At a news conference that was organized by both political parties in Accra, members of parliament from the Old VandalsAssociation criticized the University of Ghana’s administration for trying to sabotage Commonwealth Hall’s culture and heritage.
Builsa South MP, Clement Apak addressed the media in Parliament today and used the opportunity to accuse the university of attempting to be a law onto itself.
“We are cautioning the police to be very circumspect in what they do about the impasse between Commonwealth Hall and the university. We believe and hope that the impasse can be resolved amicably, but in the meantime, we expect the university to respect the rules of the land.”
“As alumni of Commonwealth Hall from both sides of the house, we are displeased with how the University of Ghanahas gone about things. We fail to understand why the university is failing to respect the law.”
The University revoked the tenancy of continuing students from the two halls as a punitive measure after clashes between some students of the two halls led to the destruction of the bust of John Mensah Sarbah.
According to the university, all continuing students of the Commonwealth Hall – an all-male hall – and continuing male students of Mensah Sarbah Hall will not return to their halls nor to any of the traditional halls.
But the students expressed their displeasure about the move insisting that the decision is ill-intended and poses financial challenges to them as the new halls offered are extremely expensive.
The State of the Nation Address (SONA) will be delivered by President Akufo-Addoin Parliament on February 28, 2023.
The address will be done pursuant to Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution.
President Akufo-Addo will be expected to present his plans for the next 2 years of his governance.
This includes government programs and what strategies the government intends to implement, how to achieve them, and also how to rally the people of Ghana towards accelerated national development and progress among others.
This was revealed by the Majority Leader when he presented the business statement for the third week ending February 24.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has revealed that the main source of financing for the 2023 budget are treasury bills and concessional loans.
According to him, this has become the case because of the closure of the international domestic bond market.
He made the comment when he appeared before Parliament on February 16, 2023.
“Mr. Speaker, as the domestic international domestic bond markets are shut, for the financing of government programmes, we are relying on Treasury bills and concessional primary sources of financing for the 2023 budget.
“We, therefore, call on this House to support government financing requests to ensure a full recovery from these economic challenges,” he said.
Meanwhile, Treasury bills saw an oversubscription in their latest auction on February 10, 2023.
According to the auction results from the Central Bank, the government secured GH¢3.35 billion from the 91, 182, and 364-day Treasury bills.
This is GH¢590.49 million away from its GH¢2.759 billion target.
The majority of the subscriptions were from the 91-day bill which secured GH¢2.07 billion and GH¢398 million from the 182-day bill and GH¢875.68 million from the 364-day bill.
The interest rates, however, hovered around 35.8%.
Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has asked the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund not to sideline Parliament in their negotiations with the Executive.
In his submission, the Speaker indicated the IMF and the World Bank must be more democratic than they are.
He said in negotiating deals with Ghana, they must engage the parliament.
The Speaker noted that “the two institutions should know that in negotiating these things, they must hear from this House and get our stamp, and then they carry the whole country along.”
He lamented that “when it is only with the Executive, then it means that the world’s structures we’ve established have outlived their usefulness, and we now have to get new structures, including the United Nations. We have to change those structures to respond to the current relatives of our time. That is a notice to the IMF and the World Bank.”
To the Finance Minister, he admonished him to seek approval from parliament before implementing any policy or policies.
He told him that the Jubilee House represents the state, whereas the Parliament of Ghana represents the people.
“This is where the powers are, and this is where sovereignty resides. Sovereignty is in the people, and we represent the people. And the powers of government are also in the people. So anytime there is any key issue like a key policy, you need the approval of this House; very important.
“You can get the go-ahead from the Jubilee House, but this house is the one that would approve and say it is in the interest of the people so go ahead and implement it,” he said.
Convener of Individual Bondholders, Michael Harry Yamson has expressed disappointment in Parliament for disappointing Ghanaians on issues regarding the economy.
According to him, Parliament failed Ghanaians because it failed to resume sitting quickly when the Domestic Debt Exchange Programmme (DDEP) was announced at the initial stage and interrogate it thoroughly.
Speaking on the State Affairs Program on GHOne TV, Mr. Yamson stated that even when the Executive failed to seek Parliament’s view on the DDEP it was incumbent on Parliament to act fast on behalf of Ghanaians.
“Our Parliament is ill-resourced to go toe to toe with the Executive when it comes to economy, matters of national finance and matters of governance, they are not resourced. We were talking about DDEP but the issue goes well beyond it and Parliament simply didn’t have the means to say hang on. This budget will not stand the test of time because it is deeply flawed.
“You don’t have the revenues to meet the debt obligations that are staring at you in the next few years and the budget was passed. Immediately it got passed all our hands were tied and the only answer was this disaster,” Mr. Yamson stated.
He continued: “We are all talking about DDEP but what really we need to say is that how is it for our parliament, our representative are so ill equip to interrogate and challenge the policy of the government when it comes to the affairs of our money.”
Background:
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has declared that all pensioners who declined to submit their old bonds for new ones under the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) have been exempted from the programme.
Briefing Parliamentarians on the state of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, in Parliament House on Thursday February 16, 2023, Ken Ofori-Atta urged the pensioner bondholders some of who, were in Parliament not to be troubled as all their coupons will be honoured when they mature.
“Government remains committed to the wellbeing of our senior citizens. It has caused me great distress that a number of our pensioners have picketed at the premises of the Finance Ministry since Monday, February 6, 2023. I have already indicated in my press release dated 14th February 2023 that government will honour their coupons payments and maturing principles like all government bonds in line with government’s fiscal commitments.”
He added: “Mr Speaker, in seeking to understand the concerns of our senior citizens, I have met with them on three occasions, the recent was yesterday 15th February 2023 where I explained the terms of the new bonds. Mr Speaker, I subsequently wrote to their convener letting him know that all pensioners who did not participate in the bond offering are exempted.”
Deputy Energy Minister, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, has indicated that the government’s Gold for Oil proposal does not need to be submitted to parliament for approval.
According to him, the programme was instituted within the mandates of the Bank of Ghana and thus does not fall within the purview of parliament.
Arguing his point out on JoyNews’ PM Express Business Edition, he said, “On even the import side, BOST, before the commencement of this programme [Gold for Oil], if you like, imports petroleum products as part of their operations, do they take it to parliament for approval?
“So if Bank of Ghana is buying Gold in-country as part of its mandate and externalizing it to as it were either swap for commodity on behalf of Ghanaian importer and or monetize to pay on behalf of a Ghanaian importer which then the Ghanaian importer pays in cedis in Ghana, how does that require parliamentary approval?”
There have been calls from the Minority side of parliament for the Gold for Oil policy be brought to the house for perusal.
However, according to Egyapa Mercer these calls are merely to truncate the success of the programme which as at Monday, January 16, had delivered 41,000 metric tons of oil from the United Arab Emirates to Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST).
He said, “But I know why, especially people in the NDC led by former President Mahama will call for parliament because you know the dynamics there. To the point that the parliament of Ghana passed a law, the Minerals Income Investment Fund Act which then empowered government through requisite agency to set up a company for purposes of monetising our royalty.
“It’s all in the law. But when government sought to implement the law that had been passed by parliament by way of the Agyapa transaction you saw what happened.”
The Adansi-Asokwa Constituency in the Ashanti Region is represented in parliament by Kobina Tahir Hammond.
He is commonly known as “K. T. Hammond” among his peers and among the general public.
Typically, the NPP lawmaker is known for his controversial remarks and strongly-worded opinions which often set tongues wagging on social media.
But despite being widely perceived as a ‘no-nonsense’ personality, it appears the lawyer cum politician also has a lighter side outside his serious-minded posturing.
On Wednesday February 15, this came to bear when he walked stealthily from behind to use his palm to cover the eyes of former Energy Minister, Dr Kwabena Donkor; who was busily addressing a press conference on the nature of roads in his constituency.
Dr Donkor did not see it coming. In an excerpt captured by JoyNews’ parliamentary correspondent, Kwaku Asante, the former Energy Minister in the erstwhile Mahama administration appeared bemused by the act.
Turning around to see who could have dared to interrupt him like that on live television, here was KT Hammond; running away after executing his mischief.
The gesture got the NDC lawmaker laughing, as he turned to watch KT Hammond fleeing the scene after implementing his agenda.
But he was not the only one who laughed it off.
MP for Klottey Korle, Dr Zanetor Agyemang-Rawlings who earlier saw KT Hammond jetting off to obstruct Dr Kwabena Donkor giggled as well.
“Oww … what are you doing?”, she said amidst her laughter.
Meanwhile, the former Energy Minister and MP for Pru East, Dr Kwabena Donkor says he will sue the Road Minister and the Ghana Highways Authority if they do not fix the central corridor roads immediately.
The road goes through Atebubu, Yeji and is a major link road from the Southern part of Ghana to the North.
But the MP says it appears the two state institutions are conspiring to endanger the lives of road users on what he describes as a ‘major corridor’, by leaving it unattended to.
“I appeal to Highways Authority. I appeal to the Ministry of Roads and Highways and I am bringing in even the Ministry of National Security because the road has security implications”, he added.
The acting minister of trade and industry, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has indicated that the Consumer Protection Bill will soon be introduced to parliamentfor approval as an act.
According to him, if this bill is passed into an act, the country will, for the first time, have a consumer protection rights act which will ensure that consumer rights are protected.
In an interview in parliament, he said the bill is set to be presented before Cabinet and should it be approved by the cabinet, it will be brought to the house for consideration.
“… I will sign it off (Consumer protection bill) to Cabinet and Cabinet will examine it, and I hope that cabinet will approve it. This will mean that this bill will come back to parliament and I see that the sentiment in parliament suggests that there will be a lot of enthusiasm and support for this kind of legislative intervention.
“…when we are able to pass it to parliament, Ghana will then, for the first time, have a consumer protection rights act. We will have a piece of legislation which deals with consumer protection which will cumulate into having a state agency which will be responsible for ensuring that we protect consumers in our country.”
Over the past ten years, there have been various attempts by the government to get the Consumer Protection Law passed.
Four presidents have come and gone, yet the progress has painstakingly been slow. It is evidently clear that the absence of the Consumer Protection Law in the country has contributed to the widespread and deliberate abuse of consumer rights.
However, Abu Jinapor has assured that this bill will soon be passed into an act as steps have been taken to speed up the process.
The caretaker minister of Trade and Industry, Samuel Abu Jinapor has said government is rigorously working to soon pass a comprehensive law to deal with consumer protection in Ghana.
According to him, the new Consumer Protection Bill is ready and will soon be submitted to Cabinet for its consideration and then head to Parliament for passage.
The caretaker minister made this known when he delivered a statement on Consumer Protection before lawmakers in Parliament on February 15, 2023.
Underscoring the importance of consumer protection, the Minister pointed out that most people in today’s world depend on goods and services provided by others, making it imperative to protect the interest of consumers and ensure fair trading.
He said the current legal and regulatory framework for the protection of consumer rights is fragmented in different pieces of legislation, with different bodies overseeing different aspects of consumer protection.
According to Abu Jinapor, the current state of affairs, is unsatisfactory, and has led to significant part of the market remaining unregulated, leading to a constant violation of consumer rights without adequate remedy.
He identified jurisdictional conflict among the various regulators on consumer protection, lack of consumer awareness, lack of access to the courts, and absence of low-cost, quick, and accessible fora and methods for resolution of consumer complaints, as some of challenges with consumer protection in the country.
Drawing from international best practice, the Minister said the world is at a stage where a single legislation on consumer protection, with a single consumer protection authority is the norm.
He said the overarching objective of the Bill, which is ready for Cabinet, is to protect, secure and defend the rights of consumers, through a structured institutional mechanism and legal framework, that will ensure that consumers play a significant role in keeping erring businesses in check, promote competition, and ensure regional integration through digital trade and e-commerce.
When passed, the law will, also, create a Consumer Protection Authority to facilitate consumer redress, establish codes of practice on advertising and labelling, educate consumers on their rights, strengthen consumer-oriented organizations, and ensure effective representation of consumers on decision-making bodies.
The Minister however called on Parliament to support the Bill when presented to the House to ensure effective and adequate protection for the rights of consumers.
Members of Parliament from both sides of the House, who contributed to the Statement, lauded the Minister for apprising the House on the progress of the Bill.
The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, underscored the importance of the Bill and expressed his optimism that the whole House will support the Bill when presented to the House.
Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin also commended Abu Jinapor and urged other Ministers to emulate him and constantly update the House on matters pertaining to their ministries.
Deputy Ranking Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Isaac Adongo, has criticized government for sacrificing $10billion bondholders’ money for $3billion IMF bailout.
This comment comes after the finance minister in a press statement announced that the government has secured more than the needed 80% participation in the (DDEP) as part of key steps to reach board-level approval with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a $3 billion facility to restore macroeconomic stability in the country.
Government targeted 80% participation in the program to help restructure 137.3 billion Ghana cedis in bonds on the domestic market to bring its total debt, which stands at about 575.5 billion Ghana cedis to sustainable levels which was a criterion the country must meet to secure a possible $3 billion bailout.
The government expressed gratitude to the people of Ghana for their support throughout these very difficult times and said it will consider inputs made by all stakeholders during the DDEP engagements to further streamline government’s expenditures.
The finance ministry maintained that the exercise was voluntary and thus the right of the individual to self-exempt was never in doubt.
Speaking in an interview on Morning Starr on Starr FM with Francis Abban the deputy ranking member said,” The government is saying, forgo your money so that we can achieve compliance with the internal arrangement of the IMF. So we can get a program that gives us $3 billion and yet the people’s money that you want to use to sacrifice is over $10billion. So, you want to destroy $10billion in order to go and collect $ 3 billion dollars over three years not even one year. These are people’s monies, these are not the government of Ghana money, these are pensioners’ money and these are monies they gave to you on the trust of the sovereign. Now the government says we want to take your money, we won’t give you the money because the economy is in trouble”.
He continued; “So the government says in the budget I have 52 billion of interest payment. 31billion of that is attributable to Ghanaians that I need to pay them in 2023. I am not going to pay you that money I will pay you zero. I have extended 21billion that I have to pay to external creditors. I write a letter to them suspending payment I’m not going to pay. The same external creditors, I owe then 22billion that I have to pay this year, I am not going to pay. So, in all, to achieve debt sustainability and be able to qualify for the IMF program, in 2023 alone, 74billion of debt service I am not paying. How can you do this and celebrate as success”.
Ghana hopes to reduce its debt to 55% of Gross Domestic Product by 2028 with the debt operation which involves both domestic and external creditors. The completion of the DDEP puts next engagements with external creditors on a possible debt restructuring.
President Akufo-Addo’s nominees for appointment as Ministers of State and Deputy Ministers will be reviewed by the Appointments Commitment of Parliament at a public hearing on Monday, February 20.
The Order Paper of Parliament for Tuesday, February 14, Edition contained this information.
Kobina Tahir Hammond, Bryan Acheampong, and Stephen Asamoah Boateng are the Ministers-designate for Trade and Industry, Food and Agriculture, and Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, respectively.
The others are Dr. Stephen Amoah, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Osei Bonsu Amoah, Minister of State for Local Government, Decentralization, and Rural Development, and Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance.
Communications and Digitalisation Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has revealed that, there are a total of 42,451,296 SIMs including newly registered ones in Ghana’s system.
However, as at February 9, 2023, only 33,793,132 have completed stage 1 of the registration while 8,68,164 are yet to link their Ghana Cards to their SIMs.
This was captured in the Order Paper of the house on February 14, 2024 as a response to the question on the progress of SIM card re-registrations in the country currently.
“Mr. Speaker, there are a total of 42,451,296 SIMs including new registrations. As at 9th February 2023, the total number of people who have completed stage 1 of the registration i.e. linking their Chana Card to their SIMs are 33,793, 132 representing 79.60% of the total number of SIMS in Ghana. The number of unregistered SIMs i.e. those who have not attempted to link their Ghana Cards to their SIMs are 8,658, 164 representing 20.40%. The number of people who have completed the process of the SIM registration i.e. stage 2 (Biometric Capture) are 25,150,522 representing 59.25% and unregistered SIMs under stage 2 is 17,300,774 representing 40.75%,” she said.
With regards to the data, Ursula Owusu said 19,514 SIMS have been registered out of 32,287 total number of SIMs.
“Mr Speaker, the total number of Data SIMs is 32,287. 19,514 of these have been successfully registered while 12,773 are unregistered. A Self-Service App has been developed to enable people complete the registration exercise in the comfort of their homes,” she added.
The Minister for communication, therefore, urged MPs to advise their constituents to register their SIMs.
“Mr Speaker, I continue to appeal to appeal to colleague members of Parliament to encourage their constituents to go and register their SIMs to ensure that the governments
Parliamentarians on the Majority side in Parliament have criticized the treatment of Haruna Iddrisu, a former minority leader and the current representative for Tamale South Constituency.
On February 7, 2023, the MPs from Sissala East Constituency, under the leadership of Amidu Chinnia, addressed the media in Parliament that it was wrong way the previous Minority Leader was being treated.
They cited two important concerns to support their worries. The first was his exclusion from seven House committees and efforts to have him removed from his current position as a result of his loss of leadership.
“Haruna Iddrisu as Minority Leader, by virtue of his removal he has been removed from several committees of which he was serving. Appointments, Business, Inter Parliamentary Union, Standing Orders Committees among others,” the group spokesman lamented.
He added that the issue of attempts to remove him from his office amounted to “a case of humiliation to the MPs and their constituents,” referring to Haruna and his chief whip, Mohammed Muntaka-Mubarak.
The MP also slammed the National Democratic Congress, accusing the party for betraying two major voter blocs of the party, the northern regions and the Zongos (Muslim dominated areas) by virtue of removing Haruna and Muntaka.
“The five northern regions at least should have been represented, the Zongo communities in Ghana which contributes significantly to the votes of the NDC should have been represented. These changes took away Haruna Iddrisu from the North, it took away Muntaka, a Zongo man.
“Zongo representation and northern leadership has been taken away and which is a complete disrespect,” he stressed.
Haruna was replaced by Cassiel Ato Forson whiles Kwame Governs Agbodza took over from Muntaka, the other change saw deputy Minority Leader James Klutse Avedzi replaced with Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the North Tongu representative to parliament, has disclosed three sources of funding for his work as an MP.
Several persons have criticized the MP over his source of wealth. They say the work output and his earnings as a lawmaker don’t match.
The MP has however disclosed three places he makes his money to support the philanthropy he undertakes.
According to Okudzeto Ablakwa, his first source of funding is MP’s Common Fund.
The Second is his own personal contribution and the third is what he described as a network of donors who periodically assist the MP.
The NDC MP was forced to make the disclosure after the receiver of a philanthropic gesture,Dr. Kofi Effah, questioned the MP how he came by his resources to purchase an SUV for him as a gift.
Dr Kofi Effah who is the head of the Cervical Cancer Prevention and Training Centre (CCPTC) of the Catholic Hospital in Battor, Volta Region found the answers by the MP as unsatisfactory. The Medical Doctor hencw requested to consult his family before taking a decision.
The Medical Doctor’s probing question allegedly infuriated Mr. Ablakwa who withdrew the offer.
MyNewsGh.com chronicles 3 times questions about the source of wealth of the MP has caused controversy.
Last year, late presidential Staffer Abugri Emmanuel posed a public question to the North Tongu MP to explain how he managed to amass wealth from using a rickety old Golf that had to be pushed to work.
The Presidential staffer said Hon. Ablakwa now has 3 speedboats in his 6 bedroom Juapong residence alone after entering politics with the green Golf that required pushing.
READ ALSO: Akufo-Addo gives good speeches but never practises anything he preaches – A Plus “The politics of a graduate without any working experience who now has 3 speed boats packed in his 6 bedroom mansion in Juapong because he is an MP, telling a man who started sitting in airplanes before he (Ablakwa) was born as someone who is insensitive?” Abugri asked.
Ablakwa, we remember your green Golf 2 paaa. We used to push it for you.” He added.
Salary or Common Fund
Another Activist of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on social media is alleged that he suspects the North Tongu MP is corrupt judging from the initiatives he is rolling out in his constituency which is far above his salary or Common Fund allocation.
The NPP’s Kabenlah Muah was reacting to the launch of the furniture and footwear bank by the NDC MP who has twice been voted MP of the year by a local radio station for his various initiatives outside government funding.
But Mr. Muah who is suspicious of the MP says Mr. Ablakwa is a perfect definition of a “corrupt” politician because the NDC lawmaker has not “worked” publicly or privately before joining politics asking the MP to disclose his source of money.
“Where did he get the money from? He has not worked publicly or privately before joining politics. This defines who a corrupt politician is.”
Overnight achievers
Controversial Lawyer, Maurice Ampaw also said some ‘babies in diapers’ have in a short period become ‘millionaires’ – something they would have struggled to achieve if they did not venture into politics.
According to him, politics in Ghana has become the fastest way for just any ordinary person to become rich.
READ ALSO: Kennedy Agyapong not facing judge he “insulted” is some progress – Prof Azar Lawyer Ampaw argued that the acquisition of wealth among some young politicians in the country is alarming – he, however, called on the office of the Special Prosecutor (SP) to investigate them to save the public purse.
“We know them, you don’t need lawyer Ampaw to mention names. Their quest to be MPs and acquisition of properties is mind-blowing. They are overnight achievers; they have not suffered enough.”
we saw the lavish wedding by Okudzeto Ablakwa in this country. Where did he get the money from as a university graduate with no working experience?”
“I have known Okudzeto Ablakwa from years back. He couldn’t even afford to pay for his car maintenance. He was nobody but when he entered politics, things changed drastically. As I speak, his new mansion in his hometown is more than a palace,” he claimed.
The success of the presidential and parliamentary primaries will determine whether the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) will win the 2024 elections, according to National Chairman of the party, Stephen Ntim.
According to him, the two elections that will elect the party’s Flagbearer and Members of Parliamentwill largely impact the electoral fortunes of the party, hence the need for the party to conduct itself properly during and after the primaries.
Speaking at a brainstorming session by the Council of Elders of the Greater Accra Region at Peduase in Aburi, Chairman Ntim on that account made a passionate appeal to all prospective aspirants, their supporters, party members, and all stakeholders of the Party to respect the rules of engagement.
“We should always be guided by the supreme interest of the party and eschew all acts that have the tendency of dividing our ranks. We cannot have an effective and well-organized party to break the eight if we do not prioritize the party’s interest. Our victory in 2024 will largely depend on how we conduct ourselves in the upcoming presidential and parliamentary primaries.
“It is in view of the importance of these primaries on our electoral fortunes that the National Council of the Party formulated a Code of Conduct to regulate our conduct during the period preceding the opening of nominations for these primaries. It is also worth reminding all party members that the Code of Conduct is still in force, and as national officers, we will continue to monitor its implementation to ensure maximum conformity. This is crucial to help us close our ranks going into the 2024 general elections and to be able to break the eight,” Chairman Ntim stated.
During the Thursday, February 9, 2023 session of Parliament, Tamale South representative Haruna Iddrisu sat in two different locations.
It is his decision to sit with the Majority Caucus at a point, however, that has attracted lots of media coverage and controversy within the circles of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), both in Parliament and outside.
Finding Haruna a befitting spot in parliament
Haruna, having been removed as Minority Leader in late February 2023 lost his seat in the front benches and had to be assigned a new spot.
It turns out that the party had deliberations on how to get him a place befitting his status as a former Minority Leader.
According to a Joy News report, he was supposed to take a seat reserved for one of the longest serving members of the House, Collins Dauda (Asutifi South MP) who occupies a front seat along with veteran Cletus Avoka.
When Haruna arrived in the chamber for the day’s proceedings, he took the seat of Rashid Pelpuo (Wa Central MP) even though his name had been placed at the spot of Collins Dauda. Reports say Dauda had also rejected the decision to relocate him.
When it was Haruna’s turn to contribute to a debate, he was found seated at the Majority side, specifically at the place of first deputy Speaker Joseph Osei Owusu (Joewise) who was presiding at the time.
Haruna explains why he took Joewise’s seat
“Mr Speaker, forgive me that I have to assume your chair, there was [sic] whether I should take over from Collins Dauda or yours and I have told them that honourable Collins Dauda is senior by age and a senior even to this house.
“So, I will not fit into his chair as somebody who is well-trained from home. So, any other chair Mr speaker acceptable to me, I am still the elected member of parliament for Tamale south,” he said in the chamber on February 9 after he made a contribution.
On social media and among the Caucus members, there is apparent disquiet at his move.
“It appears some persons within the Minority are not too pleased with what happened on the floor today, indeed a source tells me that prior to today’s sitting, the controversy surrounding whether or not Haruna Iddrisu should take Collins Dauda’s seat had been resolved.
“And now, Haruna Iddrisu is expected to take the seat of Rashid Pelpuo where he actually sat today when he came to the floor before heading to sit at the first deputy Speaker’s chair,” Joy News’ parliamentary correspondent Kwaku Asante disclosed.
Leadership reshuffle and seating rearrangement
In line with the NDC’s reshuffle in the minority leadership, some MPs including the former leaders have seen some changes in their sitting positions.
Per the seating arrangement in parliament, the leaders are usually seated on the first row in the chamber and ranking members sit in the row after that.
The other two seats in the front row are usually reserved for the senior most parliamentarians.
Before the reshuffle, Cletus Avoka and Collins Dauda who are the two longest-serving members of parliament occupied these seats.
However, due to the reshuffle, Collins Dauda, MP for Asutifi South has been removed for Haruna Iddrisu to occupy the seat.
Haruna Iddrisu has, however, refused to sit on Collins Dauda’s seat.
After their first meeting in parliament, Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak, the immediate-past Minority Chief Whip, welcomed the the new leader of the Minority Caucus of Parliament, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson with an “emotional” hug.
Muntaka Mubarak, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Asawase, told Ato Forson (MP for Ajumako Enyan Esiam), not to be in a hurry to take his new role as the minority leader.
He even rejected claims by Cassiel Ato Forson suggesting that he (Ato Forson) had a fruitful conversation with the former Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu.
“I can tell you that the meeting was not fruitful. He mentioned some measures that they had to take, but that was not done. I can tell you that he was irritated at the meeting,” Muntaka said during a press conference on Thursday.
But on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, February 7, 2022, when Ato Forson was expected to assume his role as minority leader, the two National Democratic Congress (NDC) stalwarts appear to have put aside their differences.
GhanaWeb’s team in Parliament captured the moment where Ato Forson and Muntaka met on the floor of Parliament, before the former was announced by the Speaker of Parliament as the Minority Leader.
The two men could be seen will hugging and shaking each other’s hands and Muntaka appears to be congratulating Ato Forson.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has welcomed the old leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Caucus back to Parliament with a heartwarming message.
He also referred to a scripture in the Bible as a way of congratulating the old leadership of the Minority caucus in parliament.
The new leadership, led by Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, who took over from Haruna Iddrisu as the Minority Leader, was welcomed by the Speaker after he announced to the House that he had received the correspondence from the NDC leadership.
In welcoming them, Alban Bagbin told the new leaders that they have come to the ‘hot seat.’
“On behalf of the House, and on my part, I warmly welcome them to the hot seat of the leadership of parliament; and I want to emphasise, hot seat of the leadership of parliament,” he said.
He referred to the famous scripture in Psalm 23 to the former leadership, led by Haruna Iddrisu.
“All I can say to the former leaders is, the Lord is your shepherd, you shall not want. When one door closes, many doors open, and I can tell you for sure that many of the open doors are better and higher than the closed door.
“Look at the open doors, and not the close ,” he told them.
The new leaders of the Minority in Parliament include Emmanuel Armarh Kofi Buah, as Deputy Minority Leader; and Kwame Governs Agbodza as Minority Chief Whip.
The immediate-past Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu has been spotted in Parliament exchanging pleasantries with other legislators.
This is his first time appearing in Parliament as a former Minority leader following the NDC executive’s decision to reshuffle the Minority leadership.
On Tuesday, January, 24, the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) executives announced the change in leadership in a letter to the Speaker of Parliament.
MP for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam, Cassiel Ato Forson, was appointed Minority Leader and MP for Adaklu Constituency, Kwame Governs Agbodza, the Deputy Minority Chief Whip.
According to the National Chairman the NDC Johnson Asiedu Nketiah the decision to reshuffle was taken two years ago.
He explained that, the out gone leaders had delivered their assignment perfectly, therefore it was time for the new leaders to take their turn.
“The leadership that we have just changed, they’ve done their part. We needed them at the time we chose them, we felt that they possess the skill set that could meet the challenges as at that time and they discharged their work creditably.
“Now, we are facing new set of emerging challenges and so it is only reasonable to go for a new set of leadership that possesses the skill set that will be able to discharge the responsibilities that have emerged because of the changing times,” he said when addressing party faithfuls in London.
However, the decision by the party met a lot controversies, as about 70 NDC MPs protested and demanded that it be reversed.
On February 6, the Council of Elders convened a crucial meeting with the Minority Caucus and the National Executive Committee (NEC), but former Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu was noticably absent.
It is believed this his absence is an indication of his opposition to the change in leadership.
Meanwhile, Mr Haruna Iddrisu is yet to break his silence over losing his position to Dr Cassiel Ato Forson.
The newly appointed Minority Leader, Cassiel Ato Forson, has taken over his predecessor, Haruna Iddrisu’s seat in Parliament.
This happened on Tuesday, February 7, 2023, when the House resumed from recess.
In a video sighted by the Independent Ghana Mr Forson was seen standing at the front bench, exchanging pleasantries and having brief conversations with his colleagues in the House.
He subsequently addressed the House when the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, opened the floor for the “New Leadership of the Minority Caucus” to address the House if they had anything to say.
In his address, he commended his colleague MPs for giving him the opportunity to serve as the Minority Leader after 14 years in the House.
“We wish to convey our profound gratitude to our party, the great NDC MPs on the Minority side for this opportunity to serve at an even higher level to help shape the trajectory of Parliament,” he said.
He also commended his predecessor, Haruna Iddrisu, for the “sterling” leadership over the past years as Leader of the Minority.
“Again Mr Speaker, I’ll like to express on behalf of my colleagues [i.e newly appointed NDC Leaders] our profound appreciation and thanks to the immediate past Minority Leader and my Senior Brother Hon Haruna Iddrisu for his many years of distinguished public service and his sterling leadership of the Minority Caucus since 2017,” he added.
“His leadership is an honourable political and legislative career which has become a reference point for many who aspire to participate in Ghanaian politics and particularly in Public service. Again Mr Speaker, I’ll endeavour to continue on the admirable path he has charted in the helm of the Minority Caucus and to live up to the very lofty standards that he has laid down in his leadership,” he added.
The Ejumako Enyan Essiam MP further pledged the NDC’s commitment to the works of the House under his Leadership and said his outfit will work to the benefit of Ghanaians.
“We will not be needlessly obstructive inasmuch as what is under consideration is in the interest of the people of Ghana,” he added.
The former Deputy Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson was appointed in January this year together with two other persons to lead the Minority Caucus. He was to replace Haruna Iddrisu.
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah was also named the new Deputy Minority Chief Whip, and Kwame Governs Agbodza also took over as Chief Whip.
However, Ahmed Ibrahim, MP for Banda, was retained as the First Deputy Minority Chief Whip, just as Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe-Ghansah, MP for Ada, is still the Second Deputy Minority Chief Whip.
This was contained in a letter to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, from the National Democratic Congress and dated January 23, 2023. Following the reshuffle, chaos broke out in the party with some members who were not in support of the decision registering their displeasure through protests.
While Mr Iddrisu remained silent on the matter, former Minority Chief Whip, Munkata Mubarak protested the decision. He finally conceded after a meeting with former President John Dramani Mahama.
Sam George, a member of parliament for Ningo Prampram, professed confidence in the NDC’s capacity to win the 2024 general election despite disagreements between the National Executive Committee (NEC) and the minority caucus on the leadership of the minority caucus in parliament.
According to Sam George, the grass root members of the NDC have asked the MPs to solve their differences and make sure they deliver victory in the 2024 election. “Winning power is not by the big men in Accra; no big man has ever won power for any political party. Winning power comes from the hunger of the base of the party and across social media and all the platforms, what the base is saying is that MPs solve whatever issues you have, go back to parliament and deliver for us. We are focused on winning the election.”
He told Johnnie Hughes on the 3FM Sunrise Morning Show on Monday 6 February 2023 that “Winning power does not come from the big men in Accra but the masses of the people at the grass root. They have been telling us the members of parliament to deal with the situation and work together to ensure a united front towards 2024.”
Sam opined that even considering the fact that the NDC has managed to have 136 seats coming from 106 in the previous parliament is a clear indication that the NDC is serious about winning power in the next election.
He argued that around the same time in 2015, Haruna Iddrisu and Mubarak Muntaka were fresh appointees whereas the NPP had also gone to congress to elect Paul Afoko, Kwabena Agyapong and Sammy Crabbe whom the then candidate Nana Akufo-Addo said he couldn’t work with and had them suspended yet NPP won the 2016 election because the Ghanaian people voted for NDC out due to hunger and anger.
The Ningo Prampram legislator mentioned that just as the people were not happy with the NDC government though it had done creditably well, the current blatant mismanagement of the economy and the obvious discontent for the governing New Patriotic Party by the people of Ghana is indicative that NDC will win the next election hence the NPP shouldn’t see fortune in the current challenge the NDC is faced with.
A statement was issued on Tuesday, January 24 to announce the decision of the NEC of the NDC to change the leadership of the minority caucus with the Member of Parliament for Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam Constituency, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, replacing Tamale South legislator Haruna Iddrisu as Minority Leader. Ellembelle’s Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah also replaced James Klutse Avedzi as Deputy Minority Leader.
However, the decision has created a sharp division among members of the minority caucus which has generated concerns within the rank and file of the largest opposition party in Ghana as the NDC anticipates a victory in the upcoming 2024 general elections.
Sam George maintained it is not every party decision that all members of the party will be happy with especially taking cognizance of the fact that a large number of the MPs have never held any party executive position before, it would have been prudent for the NDC leadership to have conferred with the members of the caucus before changing the leadership
“No individual can be bigger than the party. When the party makes a decision, you are compelled and mandated to live with it. It is not every decision of the party that every member will be pleased with however considering the stature of the people involved, and the fact that parliament is the wheel of the party made up of elected members some of whom have never held any party executive position before, consultation ought to have happened” Sam George stated
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has stated that issues relating to the reorganization of the Minority leadership in Parliament have been settled.
This comes after a meeting between the National Executives, the Council of Elders of the NDC, and the Minority Caucus in Parliament on Monday, February 6, 2023.
The meeting which took place at the DF Annan Auditorium in Parliament had stalwarts of the party including the Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah and his General Secretary, Fifi Kwetey, Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, among others present.
Others at the meeting included former Deputy Minority Leader, James Klutse Avedzi, and former Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adzaho.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, the National Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah said the concerns raised have offered the party the opportunity to establish a framework for the running of the Minority caucus in Parliament.
“You can see from the enthusiasm that the challenges that arose from the announcement of the new leadership of our Caucus have all been resolved.”
The Chairman also disclosed that the party has learned some key lessons from the row that accompanied the announcement of the reshuffle and has led to the formulation of a framework to determine the leadership of the Caucus in the future.
“The challenges that we have been through in the few days have produced very beneficial results and it has led to the formulation of a framework for leading our Caucus in Parliament
“One of the takeaways from this meeting is for us to go and quickly expedite action for the formulation of a framework of leading our Caucus in Parliament in the future.”
Meanwhile, one of the petitioners who called for a suspension of the reshuffle for further engagements, Dr. Dominic Ayine said the group will support the new leaders in the discharge of their duties.
Cassiel Ato Forson replaced Haruna Iddrisu as the Minority Leader on January 24.
Muntaka accepts Minority leadership reshuffle
In a related development, the former Minority Chief whip, Muntaka Mubarak, has finally accepted the decision by the National Democratic Congress to reshuffle the Minority leaders in Parliament.
His decision comes after former President John Dramani Mahama intervened and held discussions with the Member of Parliament for Asawase.
In a Facebook post, the former Chief Whip wrote “to all our supporters within and without. I had a lengthy meeting with my big brother, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, on Saturday evening over the parliamentary reshuffle. I want to, first of all, thank him for his words of advice and encouragement to me as a younger brother”.
“His Excellency’s intervention has brought an end to all the brouhaha associated with the reshuffle.”
“We are in the interest of our party NDC. We need to move on as a party and channel all our energies towards the 2024 elections.
“I thank all our chiefs, Queen Mothers Imams, and supporters for your prayers and solidarity. I pray for Allah’s guidance in all our affairs. Long live NDC long live Ghana,” he concluded.
Parliament will resume its operations on Tuesday, February 7, 2023 after the House went on recess in December.
A statement signed by Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, Speaker of Parliament, on January 24, said: “The Third Session of the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic shall commence at 10 o’clock in the forenoon of Tuesday, February 7, 2023.
It adds that, the Speaker of Parliament, by Clause (1) of Article 112 of the 1992 Constitution, appointed Parliament House, Accra, to be the place of meeting.
Upon assumption, the minority will see new leaders in charge of its caucus following a major shake-up by the NDC leadership.
The new leaders are Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah and Kwame Governs Agbodza, who have replaced Haruna Iddrisu, James Klutse Avedzi, Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, as Minority Leader, Deputy Minority Leader and Minority Chief Whip, respectively.
Some of the issues the house is expected to consider include the LGBTQ+ bill, the COVID-19 expenditure probe, and the call for the Finance Minister to leave office, National Cathedral expenditure among others.
Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram has stated that parliamentarians are among the most indebted persons in the country.
Contrary to popular belief, the outspoken MP revealed that entry into the lawmaking chamber almost always comes with a rude awakening from the perception that Parliament is a land of milk and honey.
“If you come to Parliament, that is when you will know that MP-ship is all but packaging…I don’t think that there is any profession that owes bank loans like MPs,” he said in an interview on Accra-based Joy News last week.
“All the V8 that we drive is from loan. I know MPs who go home with less than 1,000 cedis because people have to take loans,” he stressed.
In a 2021 interview, Sam George said MPs take home an amount of GH¢11,000.
According to him, the GH¢11,000 is the salary MPs in the eighth parliament will be receiving until the salaries and emolument committee has been set up by the president to determine the salaries of Article 71 officeholders.
“The salary of an MP in the last Parliament is around GH¢29,000 a month and that is gross. By the time they finish the deductions, you’ll go home with GH¢11,000,” he explained.
National Chairman for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, says the changes in the party’s leadership in parliament was due in 2021.
The process delayed till last month when the party notified Parliament of changes which included replacing Haruna Iddrisu with Cassiel Ato Forson as Minority Leader.
The party also replaced Haruna’s deputy and Chief Whip.
Addressing concerns about the timing of the party’s changes, Asiedu Nketiah said the changes had actually delayed by two years.
“We needed to have done these changes as far back as March 2021, we’ve delayed and the closer we got to elections, the more difficult it will become to implement such changes and we think that that is the best time to go about the changes.
“The leadership that we have just changed, they’ve done their part. We needed them at the time we chose them, we felt that they possess the skill set that could meet the challenges as at that time and they discharged their work creditably.
“Now, we are facing new set of emerging challenges and so it is only reasonable to go for a new set of leadership that possesses the skill set that will be able to discharge the responsibilities that have emerged because of the changing times,” he told party faithful in London last week.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has described the issue surrounding the change in the leadership of the minority caucus as a needless distraction.
According to him, the focus of the National Democratic Congress and its MPs should be on helping find solutions to the numerous challenges the people of Ghana are facing.
Ablakwa said that the issue surrounding the change in the minority leadership has overshadowed important national issues including the debt exchange programme and corruption allegations in the government’s COVID-19 expenditure, as well as the construction of the National Cathedral of Ghana.
“If you look at the current situation in our country, we are in a very turbulent chaotic time. We are really in crisis and we see what is happening with the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, where so many people have been forced to take haircuts… we have an avalanche of corruption reports, look at the Auditor Generals’ Report on COVID-19, look at our own exposé.
“The Ghanaian people expect us to be focused on those matters, to offer leadership, to be their voice because that is why they sent us to Parliament.
“So, the point I am making is that, this is a needless distraction,” the MP said in a JoyNews interview monitored by GhanaWeb, on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.
Ablakwa, therefore, called on his colleague National Democratic Congress MPs to finalize the matter on their leadership and move on to national issues.
“So, some of us have been urging colleagues that we have to quickly close ranks, deal with this matter expeditiously and move on to the national issues,” he added.
The change in the leadership of the minority caucus of Parliament has led to some confusion in the NDC, with some members of the party, including some Members of Parliament, saying that the party’s parliamentarians should have been consulted before the move.
The NDC leadership has appointed the former Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, as the minority leader in the 8th Parliament of Ghana’s Fourth Republic. He replaced the MP for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu.
According to the NDC, Kofi Armah Buah, MP for Ellembele, will take over as the Deputy Minority Leader.
While Kwame Governs Agbodza, MP for Adaklu, will replace Asawase MP Muntaka Mohammed as the Chief Whip.
Ahmed Ibrahim, MP for Banda, has been maintained as the First Deputy Minority Whip, while Comfort Doyo Cudjoe-Ghansah, MP for Ada, is the Second Deputy Minority Whip.
Some MPs of the party have petitioned its National Executive Committee (NEC) to suspend the appointment of the new leadership of the party in Parliament.
The NDC MPs, including Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka (MP for Asawase), Dominic Ayine (MP for Bolgatanga East), and Cletus Avoka (MP for Zebilla), who are calling for the suspension, argue that the appointment was not made by any of the party’s decision-making structures but was imposed by just a few people.
Ranking Member of Parliament’s Education Committee, Peter Notsu Kotoe, has revealed the Committee’s decision to summon the Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum to provide answers on the ‘Placement for Sale’ documentary.
Speaking to the media, Mr Kotoe noted that the Minister would appear before the House on Thursday, February 2, 2022.
“The chairman and myself we decided that we should call the Minister to appear before the committee on Thursday. I am very much aware that the chairman of the committee gave instructions to the clerk of the committee to summon the Minister before the committee on Thursday.”
“So tomorrow, we will find out if the correspondent has got to the office of the Minister and what his response is,” he told JoyNews.
A documentary by The Fourth Estate dubbed ‘Placement for Sale’ has revealed how parents to pay money to some middlemen for their children to be placed in their preferred secondary school.
Per reports, some culprits have been arrested by the Ghana Police Service.
Meanwhile, Dr. Adutwum will likely reply to claims that his organization conducted inquiries into secondary school placement bribes a year ago but failed to make its findings and recommendations public.
National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Johnson Asiedu Nketia very certainly supports Haruna Iddrisu, the former minority leader, to win the Tamale South party nomination.
Asiedu Nketiah said the four-time Member of Parliament (MP) had become so powerful in his constituency that it would even be surprising if he is contested at all when the primaries are held later this year.
“The outgone Minority Leader, Honourable Haruna Iddrisu, he is so powerful in his constituency, he is almost always not contested at all. I have my doubts whether anybody will contest him,” Asiedu Nketiah told party faithful during a meeting in London last week.
The one-time General Secretary was addressing concerns that the January 23 changes to the party’s leadership in Parliament was going to affect some of the replaced leaders at the upcoming primaries.
“They will not be impacted by the changes, one of the ousted persons, Dr. Avedzi (former deputy Minority Leader) is not going to Parliament again,” he explained.
On the case of Mohammed Muntaka-Mubarak, Asiedu Nketiah said despite recent challenge he was facing, “we didn’t think that this change will affect his fortune one way or the other and so we felt this is the best time to undertake these changes.”
He stressed that the advantages of expedition outweighed the concerns that were being raised about the timing.
NDC rings changes in parliamentary leadership
The NDC, through its General Secretary Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, wrote to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, to announce the replacement of three members: the Minority Leader, the deputy Minority Leader, and the Minority Chief Whip.
The NDC picked Ato Forson to replace Haruna Iddrisu as leader of the Minority Caucus.
Other changes included Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, MP for Ellembele, who is the new deputy Minority Chief Whip.
While Kwame Governs Agbodza, MP for Adaklu, will replace Asawase MP Muntaka Mohammed as the Chief Whip.
Ahmed Ibrahim, MP for Banda, has been maintained as the First deputy Minority Chief Whip, while Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe-Ghansah, MP for Ada, is also retained as second deputy Minority Chief Whip.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament for North Tongu has disputed the National Cathedral Secretariat’s explanation that they took a loan from secretary to the Board of Trustees, Reverend Kusi Boateng.
The GH¢2.6 million loaned amount has been contested by the MP who insists it was an irregular payment for no work done.
Ablakwa revealed on the January 27, 2023 edition of the Good Morning Ghana programme that it turns out that JNS Talent Center, a company Kusi Member is connected to, had received monies from COVID-19 funds, out of which they allegedly loaned a portion to the cathedral.
“This claim that he did us a favour and he gave the Cathedral Secretariat a loan …even though the Cathedral bank statement I have secured, at the time they said they were in distress and needed GH¢2.6 million desperately, they had GHC6 million sitting in their account.
“The bank statement of the National Cathedral at ADB, they had six million sitting in that account, so that story doesn’t add up,” he stressed.
He continued: “We now know that they (Kusi Boateng and JNS Talent Center) did their country no favour. It was our own money GH¢3.5 million COVID cash which he received for supplying tissue paper.”
He also tasked the Auditor-General to review their current report on COVID funds and capture the said transaction because there were doubts as to whether the tissue paper supplies were even honoured.
A section of the Muslim community in the Asawase Constituency in the Ashanti Region over the weekend held special intercessory prayers for Member of Parliament for area, Mohammed Mubarak-Muntaka.
The prayers were led by an Imam who gave a brief sermon for the purpose of the gathering. It is not known whether the MP asked for the prayers but he was not in attendance per our monitoring.
In a Facebook LIVE video shared by Asawase Lens portal, the Imam is heard speaking extensively about the importance of such prayers.
The post was captioned: “AL QUNUT PRAYER AGAINST EVIL MACHINATIONS DIRECTED AT HON. MOHAMMED MUBARAK MUNTAKA – MP FOR ASAWASE.”
Speaking in Hausa, he prayed elaborately for the Member of Parliament and against all his perceived enemies, be they human beings or other creatures.
“Allah in your own ways, by virtue of your all Knowing, all Seeing, all Hearing attributes; we submit before you all detractors of the Hon. MP, deal with them as you deem fit.”
The session, known as Qunut, involved a two-unit prayer after the sermon. It typically involves lengthy prayers said for a specific purpose or intervention.
Muntaka has been in the news recently after it emerged that he had been removed from the Minority Chief Whip position he has occupied for the past years.
He is among a bloc of MPs who are protesting the leadership changes citing the lack of engagement and consultation in arriving at the decision.
NDC rings changes in parliamentary leadership
The NDC, through its General Secretary Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, wrote to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, to announce the replacement of three members: the Minority Leader, the deputy Minority Leader, and the Minority Chief Whip.
The NDC picked Ato Forson to replace Haruna Iddrisu as leader of the Minority Caucus.
Other changes included Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, MP for Ellembele, who is the new deputy Minority Chief Whip.
While Kwame Governs Agbodza, MP for Adaklu, will replace Asawase MP Muntaka Mohammed as the Chief Whip.
Ahmed Ibrahim, MP for Banda, has been maintained as the First deputy Minority Chief Whip, while Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe-Ghansah, MP for Ada, is also retained as second deputy Minority Chief Whip.
National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Johnson Asiedu Nketiah has given another reason for which the party reshuffled its leadership in Parliament.
Having earlier defended the decision to ring the changes amid the backlash from some Members of Parliament, the former party General Secretary revealed at a party gathering in London that a key reason was lack of cooperation between the outgone leadership and Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament.
He explained that there was no need to fight to elect a Speaker from the party yet turn round and be giving the Speaker problems at a time even the Majority Caucus maintained a cordial relationship with him.
What Asiedu Nketiah said:
“My priorities in Parliament, is to see our parliamentary caucus working together and also cooperating with the Speaker of Parliament.
“Why did we struggle to get an NDC person elected as the Speaker of Parliament? There are certainly some advantages and those advantages can be tapped into when your leadership is cooperating with the Speaker,” the National Chairman stated.
He continued: “So we cannot have a situation where the NPP leadership is cooperating with the Speaker while our leadership the NDC have challenges in cooperating with the Speaker.
“If you are given a party whose leadership in Parliament is not working together what will you do? You make the changes or you resign and I am not ready to resign.”
Asiedu Nketiah was addressing the NDC UK/Ireland Chapter during a visit to London where he accompanied former president John Dramani Mahama for a public lecture engagement at Chatham House.
General Mosquito as he is referred to, also stated that the party held consultations contrary to the view out there, but that it was the national executives who eventually took the decision because they are clothed with the capacity so to do.
Bagbin appoints Asiedu Nketiah to PSB
Asiedu Nketiah is a member of the Parliamentary Service Board (PSB), a position that he assumed when Bagbin became speaker.
Speaker Bagbin has routinely gotten into heated exchanges especially with Member of Parliament for Asawase Mohammed Mubarak-Muntaka, who incidentally was very influential in the processes that led to the election of Bagbin into office on the morning of January 7, 2021.
Bagbin had cause to ‘threaten’ Muntaka in November 2022 when they clashed over the procedure Bagbin wanted to adopt in a Censorship Motion brought by the Minority against Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
Muntaka during proceedings on November 11 vehemently disagreed with Bagbin’s decision to refer the censorship motion to a committee, interrupting him a number of times much to Bagbin’s chagrin
“Mr. Speaker, I come to second the motion with the clear indication that any attempt to move this matter to a committee will be a travesty of justice done to the chamber of this House.
Then the Speaker retorted again: “Hon. Members, I direct that all that the Minority Chief Whip has said after I have told him to withdraw and apologize, be expunged from the records. I so direct. Hansard expunge everything from the record.
“Minority Chief Whip, you’ll have a difficulty in catching my eye again,” reference to getting to speak again during the session.
The Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Samuel Nartey George, is calling for calm heads following the controversy over the Minority Leadership shake-up.
According to him, the current agitations could have been avoided if the largest opposition party, National Democratic Congress (NDC) had built consensus on the removal of Haruna Iddrisu and the subsequent appointment of Dr Cassiel Ato Forson.
Speaking to Accra-based Joy News on the back of this, Sam George called for cool heads to weather the current turbulence.
“It’s important as a political party that we begin to sit down and jaw-jaw and have a conversation. How do we resolve the issues that we’re saddled with? These are not fatal issues,” he said.
“For us as members of the caucus, all we’re asking for is engagement at our level so we feel our sacrifices have been appreciated. Even if there’s change you’ll need all 136 on board to be able to come together and present a united front. We need to look at how to do this and move forward, how do we fine-tune things,” he added.
The comments of Sam George come on the back of a huge uproar from a section of the Minority in parliament over the removal process of the Tamale South MP.
A letter addressed to the Speaker of Parliament and signed by the NDC’s General Secretary in a shock move appointed the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam MP, Dr Ato Forson as Minority Leader.
Ketu North MP, Dr James Klutse Avedzi was replaced by the Ellembele MP, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah as Deputy Minority Leader while Adaklu MP, Kwame Governs Agbodza got an elevation to the Minority Chief Whip position replacing Asawase MP, Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak.
The Ningo-Prampram MP also lauded the old leadership and the new ones for exhibiting maturity to ensure things don’t degenerate into chaos.
“I must salute Haruna Iddrisu and Muntaka for the restraint they’ve shown in Tamale and Asawase. I must commend them for that because they’re putting the victory of John Mahama in 2025 ahead of their personal considerations.
“Again the leadership of Ato Forson, Agbodza and Kofi Buah have shown proper man-management in these heady times to ensure that we’re not seeing all kinds of statements flying from all sides from the Central, Volta and Western regions. It’s the maturity that all the players involved have exhibited,” he added.
The newly appointed leadership of the minority caucus of Parliament has paid a courtesy call on the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, at his home at Oyarifa, a suburb of Accra, on Thursday, January 26, 2023.
According to the new executive, their visit to the Speaker forms part of engagements they have been having since their appointment.
Addressing the press after their visit, the new deputy Minority Leader, Emmanuel Kofi Armah Buah, Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembele, said that they were resoundingly advised by Alban Bagbin.
“We have been having engagements the whole day and as part of these engagements, we visited the Speaker’s residence. I have to say that we were warmly received. We benefited from his wise counsel. And so, we are very encouraged by it,” he said.
The deputy Majority Leader also said that the main focus of the leadership of the minority caucus is to unite the caucus.
“Our priority right now is to make sure that we unite our caucus, that is our number one priority and that is so important to us.
“You cannot lead when you people are not united and that is our singular focus and we are confident we will do that,” he said.
Meanwhile, some MPs of the party have petitioned the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to suspend the appointment of the new leadership of the party in Parliament.
The NDC MPs calling for the suspension, including Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka (MP for Asawase), Dominic Ayine (MP for Bolgatanga East) and Cletus Avoka (MP for Zebilla), argue that the appointment was not made by any of the party’s decision-making structures but was imposed by just a few people.
The change in the leadership of the minority caucus of Parliament has led to some confusion in the NDC with some members of the party, including some Members of Parliament saying that the party’s parliamentarians should have been consulted before the move.
The NDC leadership has appointed the former Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, as the minority leader in the 8th Parliament of Ghana’s Fourth Republic who replaced the MP for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu.
According to the NDC, Kofi Armah Buah, MP for Ellembele, will take over as the Deputy Minority leader.
While Kwame Governs Agbodza, MP for Adaklu, will replace Asawase MP Muntaka Mohammed as the Chief Whip.
Ahmed Ibrahim, MP for Banda, has been maintained as the First Deputy Minority Whip, while Comfort Doyo Cudjoe-Ghansah, MP for Ada, is the Second Deputy Minority Whip.
This was contained in a letter to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, from the National Democratic Congress dated January 23, 2023.
The newly appointed leadership of the minority caucus of Parliament has paid a courtesy call on the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, at his home at Oyarifa, a suburb of Accra, on Thursday, January 26, 2023.
According to the new executive, their visit to the Speaker forms part of engagements they have been having since their appointment.
Addressing the press after their visit, the new deputy Minority Leader, Emmanuel Kofi Armah Buah, Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembele, said that they were resoundingly advised by Alban Bagbin.
“We have been having engagements the whole day and as part of these engagements, we visited the Speaker’s residence. I have to say that we were warmly received. We benefited from his wise counsel. And so, we are very encouraged by it,” he said.
The deputy Majority Leader also said that the main focus of the leadership of the minority caucus is to unite the caucus.
“Our priority right now is to make sure that we unite our caucus, that is our number one priority and that is so important to us.
“You cannot lead when you people are not united and that is our singular focus and we are confident we will do that,” he said.
Meanwhile, some MPs of the party have petitioned the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to suspend the appointment of the new leadership of the party in Parliament.
The NDC MPs calling for the suspension, including Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka (MP for Asawase), Dominic Ayine (MP for Bolgatanga East) and Cletus Avoka (MP for Zebilla), argue that the appointment was not made by any of the party’s decision-making structures but was imposed by just a few people.
The change in the leadership of the minority caucus of Parliament has led to some confusion in the NDC with some members of the party, including some Members of Parliament saying that the party’s parliamentarians should have been consulted before the move.
The NDC leadership has appointed the former Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, as the minority leader in the 8th Parliament of Ghana’s Fourth Republic who replaced the MP for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu.
According to the NDC, Kofi Armah Buah, MP for Ellembele, will take over as the Deputy Minority leader.
While Kwame Governs Agbodza, MP for Adaklu, will replace Asawase MP Muntaka Mohammed as the Chief Whip.
Ahmed Ibrahim, MP for Banda, has been maintained as the First Deputy Minority Whip, while Comfort Doyo Cudjoe-Ghansah, MP for Ada, is the Second Deputy Minority Whip.
This was contained in a letter to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, from the National Democratic Congress dated January 23, 2023.
Ace broadcaster, Afia Pokuaa popularly known as Vim Lady has run the rule on the two lawmakers at the centre of the leadership saga that has rocked the Minority caucus in Parliament.
Afia Pokuaa, in a social media post expressed admiration for the intellect and competence of Dr Cassiel Ato Forson who is the MP for Ajumako Enyan Essiam and the pick by the National Executive Council of the National Democratic Congress for the minority leader position.
She, however, believes that Haruna Iddrisu who has been ousted is the more experienced, astute and shrewd legislator of the two.
In a social media post she said “I like Dr Forson. He is a sharp and humble guy but he is not a match from Haruna Iddrisu. From 1995 till today. Read his history,” she tweeted.
General Secretary of the NDC on January 23 sent a letter to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, in which he disclosed some changes in their leadership in parliament.
A former deputy Minister of Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has been appointed as the Minority Leader, as replacement for Haruna Iddrisu.
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah has also been named as the new deputy Minority Chief Whip. Kwame Agbodza takes over as Chief Whip. Ahmed Ibrahim, MP for Banda, has been maintained as the first deputy Minority Chief Whip, while Comfort Doyo Cudjoe-Ghansah, MP for Ada, is the second deputy Minority Chief Whip.
The announcement has highlighted deep cracks in the minority with entrenched position for and against the move by the National Executive Council.
Meanwhile leading member of the party, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah has defended the decision by NEC not to consult the MPs.
“I’ve been the Vice Chairman of the party before, and I’ve been the Communications Director of the party at different times in the past, so I understand what’s taking place. People can ask for more consultations. In the past, we were not consulted anyways. Consultations are desirable but are not mandatory or necessary,” he said.
The current shake-up in the leadership of the Minority Caucus in Parliament, which occurred on Tuesday, January 24, has evidently left some of the populace in a daze. The Parliament house is no exception.
Missed out on the current news? Well, here is a quick recap of what happened on Tuesday.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) decided to make sudden changes in their leadership in Parliament.
Former Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrissu was replaced with Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, Deputy Minority Leader, James Klutse Avedzi has been succeeded by Kofi Armah Buah and the former Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka has been replaced by Governs Kwame Agbodza.
Now, although these changes have been made, Parliament does not seem to have recovered from this reshuffling in the leadership of the NDC.
Because, despite these changes that were made two days ago, the official website of the Parliament has not updated information on the minority leaders.
Unbelievable! Right? Care to see the evidence for yourself?
JoyNews’ checks on the website shows that under the ‘MPs & Office-Bearers’ category, where leaders in parliament are listed, the previous minority leaders are the ones still recognised.
This screen shot was taken at 5:00pm on Thursday January 26, 2023
Whatever has brought about this delay? Parliament is also yet to make a comment on the changes the NDC has made in the house.
But there is a clue. Addressing a press conference on Thursday, the former Majority Leader, Cletus Avoka, noted that the letter by the party’s General Secretary to the Speaker of Parliament has no effect.
According to him, Parliament is currently on recess and therefore there can be no applicable changes to the leadership structure of the NDC Minority in the House.
He explained that the purported changes in the letter can only be implemented if the Speaker of Parliament reads it before the entire House; stressing that until that is done, Haruna Iddrisu remains the Minority Leader, likewise his other colleagues.
“We’re on recess. By the Speaker’s invitation we’re returning on the 7th of February, 2023 so we’re not yet in the House.
“Against that background, it is when the Speaker reads the letter he has received from the Secretary of the party indicating the reshuffle to the members of the House that it can take effect.
“As of now, we’re on recess, we’re not there. So as far as we’re concerned, the current leaders of the House, Honourable Haruna Iddrisu, Muntaka and co are deemed to still be in office”, he emphasised.
The new minority leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has urged for calm among the rank and file of the opposition NDC following the changes in the leadership of the minority side of parliament.
According to him, the new leadership has a good handle on the affairs of parliament and will do a great job serving the larger interests of the party and the nation.
“…I’ll appeal to the rank and file of our great NDC party to keep calm, members of parliament are in good hands, we’ll work with them with due diligence. Obviously, we’re not new in this House. I have been in this House for 14 years. I know the capabilities of all our colleagues, some I met, some came to meet me. I have worked closely with most of our colleagues and I can assure you that together we shall succeed,” he told Journalists in parliament.
He thus pledged to represent the collective goals of his party with “unwavering dedication and high integrity.”
Tension is growing in the House on the back of the changes in minority leadership.
At least 44 MPs believe the party’s decision is unfair and unpopular and have signed a petition to reject it.
Another group of 77 MPs also reportedly signed a different petition to endorse the party’s decision.
Meanwhile, a meeting has been scheduled between the leadership and party executives at the party headquarters to settle the disagreement and the seeming cracks in the NDC following the reshuffle.
Haruna Iddrisu, the immediate-past Minority leader in Parliament has accused President Akufo-Addo and finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta of engaging in illegality with the review of the terms of payment for bondholders.
According to him, Ken Ofori-Atta is acting unilaterally on the decisions and that he is not clothed with the power to undertake such actions.
Speaking on Metro TV, Haruna Iddrisu said that the Finance Minister should have first sought approval from Parliament before varying the terms of government’s agreement with bondholders.
He bemoaned that the conduct of Ken Ofori-Atta, which he reckons has the backing of President Akufo-Addo, is not just illegal but also grave disrespect to Parliament.
He warned that the house of representatives will not watch for such flippancy to thrive and that there will be consequences.
When asked if a future NDC government will prosecute Ken Ofori-Atta and all concerned for what he contends to be breaches, Haruna Iddrisu failed to state a categorical answer but warned that there will be consequences.
“Ken Ofori-Atta is now varying the terms as an individual and as Minister of Finance. My argument is that he doesn’t have the power and authority to do that. I should think that he has to come back to Parliament. He is engaged in varying the terms and conditions of a loan.
”When Parliament approves a loan, it probably provided for tenure, monetarium, interest and principal shall be paid within a certain period. Now you are saying you are issuing 12 bonds and that 2023 no coupon and now for banks 5%. Now you say 2027 to 2038, you are varying the terms and conditions of an agreement that the Parliament of Ghana has approved.
”He came to Parliament to say give me a mandate to borrow 3 billion dollars. The Public Sector Borrowing of these Treasury Bills must all now come to Parliament. We’ve given him too much latitude and he is now walking around as if every authority is vested in him as Minister of Finance.
”He can run riot on President Akufo-Addo because he doesn’t have the will and wit to reshuffle him but he cannot do that to the republic. Take individual bond, it is a contract between you and your bank. The sacredness of contract is being hampered and destroyed by Ken Ofori-Atta with this his ‘take it or leave it’ attitude. You can’t tell people that. The money is not your money,” he said.
Meanwhile the government has reached some agreement with banks over the Domestic Debt Exchange programme.
The new terms includes “an agreement to pay 5% coupon for 2023 and a single coupon rate for each of the twelve (12) new bonds resulting in an effective coupon rate of 9%, clarity on the operational framework and terms of access to the Ghana Financial Stability Fund (GFSF) and the removal or amendment of all clauses in the Exchange Memorandum that empowers the Republic to, at its sole discretion, vary the terms of the Exchange.”
Jomoro MP, Dorcas Affo-Toffey has congratulated the new leadership of the National Democratic Congress in Parliament, in a show of support.
In a surprise move, the NDC changed its leadership in Parliament led by Haruna Iddrisu by appointing new leadership led by Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson (MP for Ajumako Enyam Essiam in the Central Region), who is now the Minority Leader.
The others appointed are Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, MP for Ellembelle in the Western Region also replaced James Klutse Avedzi as the Deputy Minority Leader with Kwame Agbodza becoming the Minority Whip.
In a show of support on social media Hon. Dorcas Affo-Toffey congratulated the three newly appointed leaders of parliament and asked for support for them as the NDC seeks to regain power in the 2024 elections.
She wrote;
“Congratulations to the new leadership of the minority caucus of Parliament. Over the years, the NDC has been growing in a competitive democratic environment and today’s changes in our caucus in parliament reflect this path.
“Let’s all support this new leadership in Parliament for victory 2024. Once again, congratulations to Hon. Dr Cassiel Ato Forson (Minority leader), Hon Emmanuel Armah Kofi-Buah (Deputy minority leader) and Hon Kwame Agbodze (Minority Chief Whip)
#TogetherWeCan”
The NDC in a letter dated January 23, 2023, and addressed to the Speaker of Parliament informed Parliament about the changes.
The letter stated that the new leadership has been charged to recommend consequential changes to the ranking members of the national headquarters.
