Proposals for selecting leaders of NDC Minority Caucus was ignored – Haruna Iddrisu

Tamale South MP, Haruna Iddrisu, says a proposal for electing leaders of the party’s Minority Caucus in parliament, tabled in November 2021, did not receive the attention and blessing of the party.

In a memo cited by JoyNews, the Minority in Parliament had proposed a set of rules to the party to regulate how the Minority would conduct its affairs in Parliament.

Included in the proposals was a guide on how the Minority MPs would select their leaders in Parliament, as against the current practice where the leadership of the party appoints its leaders in Parliament.

The memo, dated 18th November, 2021 was signed by the then Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu and addressed to the then General Secretary.

But Haruna Iddrisu on Friday indicated that the proposal was ‘ignored’ by the party, when MyJoyonline.com reached out to him.

The comment by the former Minority Leader comes in the wake of brewing tensions in the NDC following recent changes in the party’s parliamentary leadership.

On Tuesday, a statement from the party’s General Secretary, Fifi Kwetey, announced Dr Cassiel Ato Forson as the new Minority Leader with Emmanuel Kofi-Armah Buah as the Deputy Minority Leader.

MP for Adaklu, Kwame Governs Agbodza was also named as the party’s new Minority Chief Whip, taking over from Asawase MP, Muntaka Mubarak.

This development has since been met with a lot of resentment from some quarters of the party, including Tamale Central MP, Murtala Mohammed who has questioned the timing and relevance of the change.

Former Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, Koku Anyidoho also took to Twitter to berate the changes.

The latest manifestation of the grievances happened on Wednesday when some displeased members of the party allegedly stormed the premises of Radio Tamale where the party’s Deputy General Secretary was having an interview.

According to the report, the irate party supporters pounced on him and inflicted harm on his person.

But speaking to JoyNews on Thursday in the wake of the rumours, Mustapha Gbande disclosed that the reports of assault on him are untrue.

According to him, he only addressed the concerned party faithful who came to the premises after which they all left the scene.

He said he is familiar with the people who trooped to the station; adding that he has plans of meeting them later.

Meanwhile, former NDC lawmaker, Ras Mubarak, has taken a swipe at critics of the leadership changes.

In a Facebook post on Friday, he noted that despite the reservations from some quarters of the party, the changes will not be reversed.

According to him, there is the need for the aggrieved members of the party to suspend their reservations and throw their weight behind the new Miniorty Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson and his team.

This he believes will inure to the greater good of the party in its quest to win the 2024 general election.

“The decision to appoint new party leaders in parliament won’t be reversed. No amount of petitions and press conferences would change that. Better we focus energies on winning political power and help build our country”, Ras Mubarak wrote.

He added, “Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn moved from the front bench to the back bench. Heavens did not break loose.

“We can’t built a strong party with this entitlement mentality”.

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