Former President John Dramani Mahama has expressed his uttermost displeasure at the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament for betraying the party and voting for ministerial nominees of President Akufo-Addo.
With 136 members present in the House, the NDC was said to have the numbers to disappoint the president by rejecting the nominees as they had initially threatened.
But Parliament, after hours of disagreements and a brief suspension, approved the nomination of the six new ministers.
“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,” Mr. Mahama posted on his official Facebook account.
The New Patriotic Party MPs went into the voting with 135 members plus one independent candidate making 136.
The outcome of the voting clearly revealed that some NDC MPs voted for the president’s nominees. While government officials have commended the NDC MPs for being nationalistic, their own party is accusing them of being traitors.
Find his full post below
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 significantly reduce the size of his government.
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, 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.