It is turning out that some New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament (MPs) voted against some of President Akufo-Addo’s personnel he nominated to become ministers.
Contrary to claims that it was only the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs that voted against the President’s nominees, 16 members from the camp of the NPP secretly joined their NDC counterparts in an attempt to derail the President’s efforts to form a cabinet.
Firebrand NPP MP for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, threw the bombshell on Wednesday night on his Net2 Television programme, The Seat Show.
He said the ministers that the 16 NPP MPs joined their NDC counterparts to reject included the Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mavis Hawa Koomson; Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah; and the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto.
Checking Results
He said his checks revealed that Ms. Koomson, Mr. Nkrumah and Dr. Akoto suffered three, four and nine votes respectively in the hands of the NPP MPs.
Mr. Agyapong mentioned that the NPP Caucus in Parliament gave their members green ball pens to cast their votes so it would be distinct from the MPs in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and when the checks were done, a total of 16 of their colleagues in the Majority had joined their Minority counterparts to reject the ministers.
Too Much Hatred
He said that there is so much hatred and unforgiving hearts in the NPP and feared that such a situation could cripple the party, as the President begins his second term.
“They don’t have forgiving spirits. And if you are not aware, go and check how NPP MPs voted in approving Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s ministers. We gave them a green pen to mark their ballots. Three NPP MPS voted against Ms. Koomson, 4 against Mr. Nkrumah, and 9 against Dr. Akoto.”
Mr. Agyapong reiterated that there were some NPP MPs who had issues with the President all because their expectations had not been satisfied; and urged his colleagues to be more realistic in their expectations of the President and his government, and work towards improving their work as parliamentarians.
“It’s all because we can’t forgive each other. Don’t think that at President Akufo-Addo’s second round he will be able to satisfy everyone. Work hard and take your destiny into your own hands. Thinking idly that NPP will do everything is wrong. President Akufo-Addo will do his best but his best is not enough,” he said.
NDC Fire
When the ministers were approved, some elements in the opposition NDC led by their Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, launched a blistering attack on the Speaker, Alban Bagbin, Minority Leader Haruna Iddrissu and Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, for allowing the President to have “his way through them.”
In a post on his official Facebook wall, Mr. Gyamfi accused the NDC leadership in Parliament of betraying the party’s supporters by failing to carry out their so-called threat to reject some nominees.
“Comrades, the betrayal we have suffered in the hands of the Speaker of Parliament, the leadership of our parliamentary group, particularly Mr. Iddrissu and Mr. Mubarak and dozens of our own MPs, is what strengthens me to work hard for the great NDC to regain power.”
“It’s about time we understood, that we don’t have any NDC Speaker of Parliament. No we don’t! We have a Speaker who rode on the back of the NDC into Office to pursue his own parochial agenda and nothing more. You trust them at your own peril,” part of the post read.
Approval of Ministers
Parliament approved 13 of President Akufo-Addo’s Ministers on Thursday, March 4, after an all-night drama over some of the nominees vetted by the Appointments Committee.
There were initial attempts by the opposition NDC MPs to block three of the ministers but they sailed through by first round of voting.
Per Mr. Agyapong’s allegation, it was clear that some 16 NPP MPs were subtly backing the NDC to reject the ministers as it reflected in the votes in the 275-member house.
Dr. Akoto for the Food and Agriculture Ministry, Ms. Koomson for the Fisheries and Aquaculture Development Ministry and Mr. Nkrumah for the Information Ministry, secured approval of the House in an all-night-long voting which lasted for about three hours.
Dr. Akoto, a former MP, obtained 143 votes (53.96%), while Mr. Nkrumah, who is the NPP Member of Parliament (MP) for Ofoase-Ayirebi, bagged 155 votes ((58.68%) and Ms. Koomson, NPP MP for Awutu Senya East, secured 161 votes (60.75%) out of 265 total votes cast.
The Awutu Senya East MP obtained the highest votes of the day despite criticisms of her “poor show” at the vetting, with many having asked Parliament to reject her nomination.
Moments of Drama
The MPs spent several hours in debating the first report of the Appointments Committee which had recommended for approval by consensus 10 of the nominees and by a majority decision the remaining three after voting 137 against 125 to arrive at a decision to carry the motion on the report.