NDC leadership in parliament incurs wrath of party members after Ofori-Atta approval

Opposition MPs on Parliament’s Appointment Committee have incurred the wrath of the rank and file of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for approving the nomination of Ken Ofori-Atta as Ghana’s Finance Minister.

Mr Ofori-Atta was the last Minister-designate to be vetted by the committee after he returned from the United States where he was seeking medical attention.

He had overwhelming approval from the House with the Minority Leader and NDC MP for Tamale South Haruna Iddrisu, seconding the motion.

But that has not gone down with members of the NDC who have already gone public to register their disapproval after the Appointment Committee recommended his approval by consensus.

A former Ashanti Regional Youth Organizer for the NDC and critique of the Finance Minister, Brogya Genfi appears to be leading the charge.

In a ‘sarcastic’ Facebook post, the former parliamentary candidate for Suame who on a number of occasions hauled Mr Attah to the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice on two occasions said he had hurt the image of the appointee following the decision.

“I want to apologise to you on all issues I picked on you in the past”, Brogya Genfi wrote.

“What is it with you, that the courts exonerate you, the executive arm praises you and Parliament of Ghana approves you with a bipartisan support? he quizzed.

“May be, time has proven I was either chasing non-existent crimes or misinterpreted the issues.

“Kindly find a place in your heart to forgive. I’m sorry”, he concluded.

Many party members appear to be on the same page with Mr Brogya Genfi and have launched a scathing attack on their leaders in Parliament.

Similar outbursts

This is not the first time the Minority leadership on the Appointment Committee has suffered similar attacks.

The party’s Communications Director, Sammy Gyamfi, had criticised the NDC caucus in Parliament following a controversial approval of some minister-nominees.

In comments on Facebook, Mr. Gyamfi described the handling of the minister-nominees as a betrayal.

His remarks singled out the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu; the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak and even the NDC-backed Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin.

“They brazenly defied the leadership of the party and betrayed the collective good for their selfish interest,” Mr. Gyamfi said.

“The shame they have brought on the party will forever hang like an albatross around their necks,” he added.

Mr. Gyamfi however said the NDC will not be perturbed by the outcomes of the debate on the ministerial nominees.

“Rather, let it strengthen us to fight for this party. We all have an equal stake in this party. They are few, we are many. Some have sold their conscience but ours is intact. And we, can work together to rebuild the party from the ashes of 3rd March 2021, which I call “Black Wednesday”- Our day of self-inflicted shame.”

He further suggested that he was in favour of changes in the leadership of the NDC in Parliament.