NDC Shocked At MP's Resignation

Minority Leader, Alban Bagbin has expressed surprise and disbelief at the resignation of Abraham Kofi Asante as the NDC Member of Parliament for Amenfi West. ''I have had no idea at all about my colleague’s action. Like any other MP, I only got to hear of it on the floor of the House yesterday when the First Deputy Speaker read out his letter of resignation,'' he said.

''Only last Friday, he (Kofi Asante) called me for a discussion on a number of issues related to the budget and promised to get back to me. That was the last time I heard from him,'' Mr Bagbin said.

He said that as a good friend and Minority Spokesman for Energy, he had expected that he (Kofi Asante) would at least have discussed or even mentioned his decision to quit to him before going public with it.

''I have not even been copied his letter of resignation,'' he lamented.

Mr Bagbin observed that while this action might be aimed at deflating the morale of the members of the party, especially coming soon after the party’s Navrongo Central by-election loss, he remained confident that the NDC would overcome these setbacks and galvanise its members and supporters to regain power in the 2004 elections.

While some sources say Mr Kofi Asante is on the verge of taking up a ministerial or high ranking position in government, other sources say he has already had his bag packed for a new appointment outside the country.

The sources say his destination is almost certainly in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, where he has landed a senior job at the ECOWAS Secretariat.

''There are strong hints that he might be going to Abuja to function at the ECOWAS Secretariat as Deputy Director, Energy Sector,'' the source stressed. Meanwhile, the General Secretary of the NDC, Dr Nii Armah Josiah Aryeh, also expressed surprise at Mr Asante’s action and said ''I have not even as General Secretary of the party been served a copy of his resignation letter''.

He said that in big political parties such as the NDC, which embraced people of all walks of life and inclinations, events such as this could happen.

He, however, expressed the hope that the NDC would emerge stronger, more united and better focused to win the 2004 elections, adding that ''the NDC is well-anchored and cannot be destabilised by distractions such as this''.