Former President John Dramani Mahama has expressed disappointment in the refusal of some members of the Minority in Parliament to toe the line of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and reject the new ministerial nominees.
In an earlier communication to its MPs, the party’s leadership ordered them not to support the approval of the nominees in a bid to force President Akufo-Addo to reduce the size of his government significantly.
But after a secret vote on Friday, March 24, 2023, the house approved all the nominees as more than 20 MPs broke ranks with the leadership of their caucus.
On his social media page on Saturday, March 25, 2023, Mr. Mahama called out the NDC MPs who defied the party’s orders not to approve the nominees.
He said he was appalled at the move and asked those responsible for the betrayal to do some serious soul-searching and learn to place national interest over personal interest.
“Unfortunately, Ghanaians were sorely disappointed yesterday when several members of the Minority for some parochial and personal interests voted against the principled position adopted by the party. I am also disappointed. Those responsible for this betrayal must do some serious soul searching and learn to place national interest over personal interest.”
Here’s the full statement shared on his Facebook page
A couple of weeks ago, our NDC group in Parliament announced a principled position not to approve any new ministers until the President has taken steps to reduce the size of his government significantly.
This position was supported by a broad section of Ghanaians and public advocacy groups.
Unfortunately, Ghanaians were sorely disappointed yesterday when several members of the Minority, for some parochial and personal interest, voted against the principled position adopted by the party.
I am also disappointed.
Those responsible for this betrayal must do some serious soul-searching and learn to place national interest over personal interest.
Equally disappointing is the President’s refusal to seize the opportunity to realign and downsize his bloated government when the NPP flagbearer hopefuls and the Chieftaincy minister resigned.
Clearly, in this time of crisis and excruciating hardships, President Akufo-Addo, his NPP administration and some of our MPs are out of tune with the mood of the Ghanaian people.
I still believe, as I said in Ho recently, that in this time of crisis, the government can still run efficiently with not more than 60 ministers.
For our grassroots members and all Ghanaians who are disappointed by this insensitivity, I urge you not to despair.
2024 offers us an opportunity to work hard to defeat this reckless government that seeks to destroy our democracy and the very livelihoods of Ghanaians- an opportunity for us to work and build the Ghana we all want from January 07, 2025.
