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General News of Wednesday, 16 November 2022

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Gabby Otchere-Darko, Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu smoke peace pipe 

Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko with Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko with Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

A member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, has made peace with the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, after the latter accused the former of plotting against him.

In a viral photo, the two were captured together with broad smiles on their faces a day after the majority leader went hard on Gabby Otchere-Darko.

Gabby Otchere-Darko, in the company of O.B. Amoah, the deputy minister for local government, visited the majority leader in his office in Parliament on Wednesday, November 16, 2022, as Asaase.com reports.

In a recent interview with Kumasi-based Sompa FM, the majority leader expressed anger over some allegations leveled against him by Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko.

According to the Member of Parliament for Suame, Mr Otchere-Darko has wrongly accused him of being the mastermind behind some NPP MPs demanding the sacking of Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.

"From nowhere, we hear Gabby Otchere-Darko on his Asaase Radio station accusing me of instigating what was happening, [but] for what? What do I stand to gain from that?" he retorted.

The majority leader questioned the authority of the cousin of the finance minister for levelling such allegations against him.

"There are people who would rather want to cause disintegration while you are committed to integrating. But now this has brought about another sense of anger. That Gabby Otchere-Darko—who does he think he is? I serve Akufo-Addo, and I serve the party as well as the government... when we talk about the government itself, what is your locus to be accusing me of being an instigator?" the majority leader questioned.

The majority leader noted that it rather took his intervention to instill calm when a group of MPs in the NPP made public demands for the dismissal of the finance minister.

Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who also doubles as the Minister for Parliamentary Business, further accused Gabby of sponsoring a contestant against him in the 2016 primaries of the NPP, noting that he failed in his agenda.

"You (Gabby) are the same person who wrote something for someone to publish on his radio station that I will lose if I contest for re-election, hence my saying that I will not contest again. Gabby Otchere-Darko, have you contested an election before? They are the same people who sponsored people to contest against me in 2016, it didn’t work for them."

According to the majority leader, Gabby Otchere-Darko accused him of instigating calls for the finance minister’s sack just so the leader of government business in parliament can be considered as a replacement for the underfire Ken Ofori-Atta.

But according to Gabby, he has never made any such allegations against the majority leader.

"I have listened to excerpts of the interview of Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, on Sompa Radio, claiming "I had gone on Asaase Radio to allege that he was the ringleader behind the NPP MPs calling for the resignation of the Finance Minister…"

"I have since sent him a message on this, denying same. But, I consider it necessary to also put my side out publicly.

"I have said no such thing on Asaase Radio or any other radio station or media house, whether on-air, online, or in print, either directly or indirectly. Indeed, my position, so far, on this issue in Parliament within the Majority Caucus, has been to deliberately stay away from commenting on it publicly," Gabby Otchere-Darko stated categorically on November 15.

NYA/SEA