The inside story of why Okudzeto Ablakwa resigned from Parliament’s Appointments Committee

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu on Wednesday, March 31, 2021, announced his resignation from the Appointments Committee of Parliament.

Okudzeto Ablakwa in his statement of resignation indicated that the decision was ‘after days of careful thought’.

He added that “I shall like to state that the reasons for this difficult decision are both personal and on principle”.

While Okudzeto Ablakwa did not cite the party’s approval of Ken Ofori-Atta as the cause of his rejection, GhanaWeb can confirm that it is the unanimous approval of Ofori-Atta that made Ablakwa resign.

Sources within the minority caucus in parliament tell GhanaWeb that the decision to approve Ofori-Atta was not a collective one.

According to our sources, the decision was taken by the leadership of the minority caucus without recourse to the views of the other members.

The usual practice, GhanaWeb understand, is that the members of the minority on the committee meet to discuss which position it should take on the matter.

In the case of Ken Ofori-Atta, our sources tell us no such thing happened as leadership, in a meeting of the entire 26-member committee, announced that the minority caucus approves Ofori-Atta.

It is understood that some members of the minority, particularly Isaac Adongo did not take kindly to this and made known his discontent with the decision taken by the leadership.

As Adongo himself said, he was not in support of the decision taken by the party’s reps in Parliament.

“If there’s anybody who will put his life on the line to get Ken Ofori-Atta not to be the Finance Minister you can wake me up at any day. But it’s a collective decision, I disagree with the decision but I respect the view of the majority.”

“I did not want to drag my name in the mud when I do not have control over the processes leading to the approval of one of my fiercest critics,” he said.

Our sources indicate Okudzeto Ablakwa, like most of his colleagues, was not happy with the development and made it known to the leadership that the other members should have been consulted.

His resignation from the committee was his way of showing that he played no role in the approval of Ken Ofori-Atta.

Meanwhile, GhanaWeb can also confirm that calm has returned to the caucus.

In a meeting held on Wednesday, Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu galvanized his people and assured them leadership is working in their interest, the party’s interest and most importantly the country's.