Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Member of Parliament for Suame and the Majority Leader in Parliament, has defended the immediate past Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, amid allegations that Haruna was in bed with the Majority during his tenure.
The allegations gained grounds when the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) made changes to its leadership in Parliament, replacing Haruna Iddrisu with Cassiel Ato Forson as Minority Leader.
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu explained when Parliament resumed on February 7, 2023 that he had developed a close relationship with Haruna and his team which was not to say that they were compromised in anyway.
The Majority Leader who is also the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs stressed that a good relationship between the Majority and Minority leadership was important in a parliamentary democracy.
“Let me state emphatically and unambiguously that no such thing happened. I had developed a very harmonious working relationship with them [old minority leaders] but people then read meanings into it.
“The business of the Minority Leader is to assist the Majority Leader in facilitating the business of the government and if someone does that, it shouldn’t be perceived as selling out to the majority.”
Commenting on the new leadership changes on the Minority front bench, which took effect on Tuesday, Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, commended the Haruna Iddrisu-led group and tasked the incoming leadership to learn from them.
“The former members of the [Minority] leadership led by Haruna Iddrisu must be applauded because their record of performance is visible for all to see, and I hope the new leadership will learn from their fountain of wisdom, a trove of wealth and experience.
“What I can say to the former leadership is, the Lord is your shepherd, you shall not want and when one door closes, another one opens and I tell you for sure that the opened doors are better and higher than the closed doors. Look at the open doors and not the closed doors and with this, I welcome all of you once more.”
The NDC announced changes to its leadership in Parliament on January 24, 2023. Aside from Ato Forson replacing Haruna Iddrisu, Haruna's deputy and Chief Whip were also replaced.
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, MP for Ellembelle replaced Ketu North MP, James Klutse Avedzi as the Deputy Minority Leader while Kwame Governs Agbodza took over the jobb of Minority Chief Whip from Asawase MP Muntaka Mubarak.
Ahmed Ibrahim and Comfort Doyoe-Ghansah maintained their positions as First and Second Deputy Whips respectively.
Source: GNA
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