Minority Leadership Changes: You can’t intimidate an entire caucus – Suhuyini warns NDC

Member of Parliament for Tamale North, Alhassan Sayibu Suhuyini, has warned of possible insubordination from members of the minority caucus against their newly announced leadership.

The National Democratic Congress this week announced a change in the leadership of its caucus in parliament.

The announcement that the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, and the Minority Chip Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, have been removed from their positions has generated controversy within the party.

According to critics of the new appointment, including Mr. Suhuyini, the party’s leadership failed to conduct extensive consultation before arriving at the decision.

“Like life, death and taxes, change is the other constant. Therefore, I’m not against constructive changes borne out of an exhaustive consultative process involving key stakeholders of the party to our front bench as a minority group.

"Clearly, that is not what has happened, no matter how well-intentioned it may be. Worse of all, whoever is advising the strategy of the proposed new leaders, is feeding into a normal human extreme greed and selfishness, perhaps because the fellow(s) is unable to untamed theirs too,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

While tagging the attempt to change the leadership of the caucus as being borne out of greed, the minority MP warned that his side will not be coerced into submitting to the new leadership, which he noted as being inappropriately constituted.

“Given the composition of our caucus as against our opponents and the expectations of what we can achieve together and the reality of what we can not, even if we are together. It will take extreme greed and selfishness to want to lead this NDC caucus at ALL COSTS at this time, without a toss about long term consequences on the caucus and party.

“I wonder why it seems people think they can intimidate the entire caucus into submitting to an authority we consider inappropriately constituted. Some may, but not majority of us and it’s not personal; it’s conviction; it is principled,” the Tamale North MP said.

The NDC named former Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, as the Minority Leader in place of Haruna Iddrisu.

Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah has also been named as the new Deputy Minority Chief Whip.

Kwame Agbodza takes over as Chief Whip.

Ahmed Ibrahim, MP for Banda, has been maintained as the First Deputy Minority Chief Whip, while Comfort Doyo Cudjoe-Ghansah, MP for Ada, is the Second Deputy Minority Chief Whip.

This was contained in a letter to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, from the National Democratic Congress, dated January 23, 2023.

GA/BOG