Asiedu Nketiah has a huge influence on the Speaker of Parliament - Deputy Trade Minister

Johnson Asiedu Nketiah (left), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah (right)

Michael Okyere Baafi, a deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, has alleged that one of the persons who determine the happenings in Parliament is the National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah.

Speaking in an Angel FM interview monitored by GhanaWeb on Thursday, Okyere Baafi said that Members of Parliament (MPs) have realised that Asiedu Nketiah has a huge influence on the Speaker of Parliament when it comes to decision-making in the House.

According to him, MPs of the Majority Caucus always pray that the NDC Chairman will not be present in the House when it is time to take important decisions.

"Sometimes he (Bagbin) is very fair. Naturally, because he comes from a political party, he has his biases. But nothing can be done about that. That is how politics is supposed to be; everybody has sympathies towards his party, and he (Bagbin) has done that perfectly.

"When he has to put his feet on the ground, he does that, but sometimes he shows his biases, especially when Asiedu Nketiah is in the House.

"So, when it is time to make decisions in the House, we pray that Asiedu Nketiah does not come to the House. Because when the speaker takes a decision, and Asiedu Nketiah is in the House, there is no way you can make him change his mind," he said in Twi.

Okyere Baafi, who is the MP for New Juaben South, however, indicated that he supports the current system of political parties determining the leadership of Parliament and the positions their MPs should take on government business that comes before the House.

He added that if MPs are left alone to take decisions, some of the decisions they may take will not be in the interest of Ghana's democracy.

Watch the interview below:

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