National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has assured the United Kingdom (UK) chapter of the NDC that the party is not fragmented.
According to him, despite reports of a falling out as a result of the parliamentary leadership reshuffle, the NDC “is still a very united party.”
The removal of Minority caucus leaders; Haruna Iddrisu, James Klutse Avedzi and Muntaka Mubarak, had ruffled the feathers of some members of the party who argued that the leaders had put up a stellar performance thus did not deserve to be changed.
Other MPs had protested the change stating that they were not consulted prior to the announcement of the decision.
However, speaking to the NDC UK chapter, Asiedu Nketia noted that the protests were expected.
“NDC is not fragmented at all, it is still a very united party. The truth about every decision is that every change comes along with new winners and new losers so you’ll definitely have some reaction.
“But the change has been welcomed by majority of NDC membership across the country and I guess even here I was greeted with reshuffle, reshuffle… so it has brought new excitement on the front of NDC. So NDC is not divided at all.
He also pointed out that while it has been reported that about 70 MPs do not support the reshuffle, recent developments have reduced the number to less than 25 MPs.
He’s optimistic that number will reduce further when the remaining MPs come to terms with the change in leadership.
“And the reports about 70 MPs signing a resolution and all that they’re not accurate at all. We heard about 70 MPs and later the number reduced to 40 MPs and eventually the press conference was attended by 25 MPs.
“And a lot of them even at that event were calling to assure me that they were there to witness what was happening and not necessarily associating themselves with the move. And as I was leaving Accra, there were a couple of MPs who had called in to media houses to dissociate themselves from the move even though their names were in the list. So that is that about it. NDC is not fragmented at all,” he assured.
Johnson Asiedu Nketia led a delegation of NDC executives to the United Kingdom to witness a lecture delivered by former President, John Mahama, at Chatham House on Africa’s strategic priorities and global role.
He also took the opportunity to address party folk and the media on matters arising in the party.