The Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Samuel Nartey George, has bemoaned what he says is the lack of adequate consultations that went into the decision by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in changing its caucus leadership in parliament.

According to Sam George, the leadership of his party failed to conduct far-reaching consultations which would have ensured adequate deliberations to save the party from the confusion that has risen from the decision.

“The problem I see MPs having, Randy, is not about the change. The problem of the caucus is not about the change; the problem of the caucus is not about the capacity of the people who are being changed; the problem of the caucus is the lack of engagement. The fact that as members of parliament we heard about a change in leadership on the radio and many of us had eggs in our faces because we said it is fake until Adabraka came out to say that yes we wrote that letter,” he stated on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on Thursday, January 26, 2023.

Sam George noted that whereas the National Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, and the General Secretary, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, have argued that wide consultations were done prior to the announcement, it cannot be said to have been sufficient in this case.

“I believe that their consultations may have been done at their level but I believe that it was not far-reaching enough. I believe that a little more consultation, in this case, engagements could have happened. They consulted based on what they said publicly with members of the council of elders and stakeholders in the party. After those consultations, they proceeded to write a letter to the speaker and that is where I think the crux of the matter is,” he stated.

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.

This was contained in a letter to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, from the National Democratic Congress dated January 23, 2023.

GA/EA