NDC Prepares Supporters To Accept Another Failure From Parliament

In anticipation that the Finance Minister-designate Ken Ofori-Atta will be approved by the Appointment Committee of Parliament and that the development will not go down well with the party’s support base, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has issued a statement to prep the party’s base for the disappointment.

The NDC dominates the Appointment Committee and had given an impression that they disapproved of Ken-Ofori-Atta, but they had gone ahead to approve his ministerial nomination anyway.

This realization had prompted a statement from the NDC’s General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, who asked the party base to not fly off the handle the way they did when the party’s MP failed miserably to block a number of Minister Nominees of President Akufo-Addo.

“It is hereby announced to the rank and file of the party and to the notice of all Comrades, that a decision by the Appointments Committee to recommend Ken Ofori Atta for the approval by consensus will be made public today in Parliament,” Asiedu-Nketia stated.

“Following what transpired previously in respect of vetting and approval of some Ministers designate the Minority leadership, the Party leadership, as well as the Council of Elders, have engaged in extensive consultations with the view to adopt a common position based on the exigencies of the situation.”

Many were expecting Ofori-Atta’s nomination to be blocked by the NDC MPs given his centrality to many scandals, including what is seen as the deliberate collapse of local banks owned by perceived rivals to his bank, Data Bank and the Agyapa Mineral Royalties dirty deal.

This would be the third time that the Minority NDC which was expected to keep the government in check in the hung Parliament is disappointing expectations. First, they failed miserably to prevent the approval of some Akufo-Addo Minister-nominees including the likes of Ursula Owusu Ekuful, Communications Minister who deliberately closed down perceived pro-NDC radio stations.

After this monumental failure, the NDC MPs blamed COVID-19, claiming the virus had downed a number of their members and that that is why when it came to time to vote at plenary, the NPP had the upper hand.

The same excuse was to be repeated when the 2021 Budget was approved, with the NDC claiming one of their members was battling COVID 19 while two had been burying relatives around the same time that the Budget was put to vote.