Members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Caucus in Parliament are not going to allow themselves to be bribed to pass Ministerial nominees of President Akufo-Addo who must scale the hurdle of vetting in order to become Ministers, says the Deputy Chief Whip of the NDC in Parliament, Hon. Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe-Ghansah.
Responding to accusations by members of the party that some of their MPs have price tags on their consciences, Hon. Ghansah said the accusation was not fair and that the sacrifices of party members is fresh on the minds of the MPs.
“I think the members are screaming about the appointment committee but they should relax because we haven’t started yet. Nobody is going to take bribes from anybody. We have vowed not to take a penny from anybody because we know how people struggled to get us where we are. All we are saying is bring a petition if you feel someone is not qualified to be a minister and we’ll work on it,” she told Accra-based Starr FM.
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The NDC is having an upper hand on the Appointments Committee where it splits membership with the NPP 13 – 13. However, while all of its 13 members have original votes, only 12 on the NPP side have original votes with the Chairman of the Committee, who is an NPP MP, having only a casting vote – meaning he only votes when there is a tie.
In order for a nominee to pass through, he has to have at least 50% of the MP’s votes which means that every nominee will at least need the vote of one NDC MP.
With this advantage, some people within the NDC fear that their MPs may take bribes and vote to pass the 27 Ministers that Akufo-Addo has nominated for vetting including some nine people who the NDC grassroots feel must not be approved of.
Meanwhile, the allegation that NDC MPs may take bribes and betray the party has ruffled Ningo Prampram MP, Sam George Nettey who has responded that the thought is insulting.
“It is annoying and irritating seeing the disparaging and demeaning commentary being propagated by members of the NDC against the Parliamentary Caucus of the Party reference the upcoming vetting process. The suggestion that we are a group of sell-outs who have no spine is insulting,” he said.
“All 137 of us in Parliament stood up to the excessive abuse of State Power by the Akufo-Addo regime and in the face of intimidation and threats won our Parliamentary seats for the Party. On the night of the 6th and 7th January, we again with unity of purpose put our lives at risk and successfully elected an NDC Speaker of Parliament. Whatever inducement you think is being offered did not exist when we put Party first to elect a Speaker? Do you know the battles many members are having to fight today as a consequence of our actions on the night of the 7th January,” he wrote.
Source: whasupnewsghana