Vice President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang and Haruna Iddrisu
The Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has alleged that Vice President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang has already selected the Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, as her running mate ahead of what he described as an impending and bruising flagbearer contest within the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Addressing a press conference by the Minority in Parliament yesterday, Mr. Afenyo-Markin said while the NDC continues to focus its attention on internal developments within the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), it is quietly grappling with deepening leadership ambitions and succession battles of its own.
According to him, the activities of some senior NDC figures point to an early but intense struggle for the party’s next presidential ticket.
He cited the ongoing “thank you tour” by NDC National Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, as a veiled campaign for the flagbearership, claiming that both the party and the government have preferred candidates for the contest.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin further alleged that the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, is also positioning himself to lead the party and has chosen NDC General Secretary, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, as his running mate.
He added that the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, and the North Tongu Member of Parliament (MP), who is also the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, were also exploring possible permutations ahead of the contest.
He claimed that the Minister for Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, is equally preparing to enter the race and is in the process of selecting a running mate, while the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, has also set his eyes on the presidency.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin criticised Mr. Opoku’s alleged presidential ambition, arguing that despite challenges with funding for programmes under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the minister appeared more focused on personal political advancement than addressing sector constraints.
He warned that by the middle of the year, President John Dramani Mahama could effectively become a lame-duck president, as attention within the NDC shifts to internal competition for the flagbearer position.
In contrast, the Minority Leader said the NPP was focused on unity and consolidation after its own flagbearership contest, expected to conclude on January 31.
“Those of us in Parliament are determined to rally around the winner of our flagbearership and help move the party forward,” he said, urging the NDC to focus on resolving its own internal challenges rather than commenting on the affairs of the opposition.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin stated that the NDC’s forthcoming contest would be “brute” and cautioned the governing party to “leave the NPP alone” and address what he described as a muddy and crowded leadership race within its own ranks.
LGBTQ
Beyond the presidency, the Minority Leader also accused the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) of abandoning principles it strongly championed while in opposition, particularly on the proposed anti-LGBTQ law.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin said the NDC had gone conspicuously silent on the bill barely a year after assuming office, despite previously mounting a nationwide campaign in support of its passage.
He recalled that while in opposition, the party consistently argued that the law was necessary to protect the nation’s cultural and religious values.
“They went on the streets of Accra, into villages, and engaged the media, religious leaders and traditional authorities,” he said, adding that the intensity of the campaign made the party’s current posture difficult to justify.
According to him, the change in tone became evident after the NDC won power, with the government now citing the need for broader consultations to refine the bill.
He questioned why a law previously described as fit for immediate passage had suddenly become subject to review.
The Minority Leader further alleged that the government frustrated efforts to advance the bill when Minority MPs introduced it as a private member’s bill, accusing the NDC of hiding behind procedural technicalities and shifting blame to the Clerk to Parliament after approval processes had allegedly been completed.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin also expressed concern over what he described as the introduction of sexual rights content into the school curriculum, which government officials later attributed to an error.
He questioned how documents approved, printed and signed by a sector minister could be dismissed as a mere anomaly, crediting the Minority’s vigilance for exposing the issue.
He accused the NDC of using the anti-LGBTQ law purely as a political tool to secure power and retreating from it once confronted with the realities of governance.
The Minority, he said, would continue to press the government to act in line with the principles it once publicly defended.
By Ernest Kofi Adu