The Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has said that the partnership between former President John Dramani Mahama and Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang for the 2024 general elections does not represent the future of Ghana.
He says they have not put in place a visionary leadership for the country’s long-term future.
Contributing to a debate on the State of the Nation address in Parliament on Monday, March 11, the Effutu Lawmaker said “If you look at how they have paraded their leadership, they have not put in place a visionary leadership for the country’s long-term future. The flagbearer, constitutionally, just has a term, should that happen, the flagbearer has gone for a running mate.
“Under normal circumstances, they should have given us a running mate who will give future to Ghana, like we have given a flagbearer who represents the future of Ghana. You have brought a running mate who returned from the University of Cape Coast as Vice Chancellor, came to the Ministry of Education, and performed abysmally, the e-block she could not compete them, she did only 29, today you say the running mate should be the future of this country?”
In the view of Afenyo-Markin, her selection smacked of a lack of succession planning and visionary leadership within the NDC.
The Minority caucus however expressed unhappiness with his comment about the choice of septuagenarian Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang as Former President Mahama’s running mate for the 2024 elections.
The minority caucus asked him to withdraw the comment but he initially refused, leading to disruption in the debate on the President’s state of the Nation address.
The Second Deputy Speaker, Andrew Asiamah Amoako suspended proceedings for a while to allow matters to settle.
When the house resumed sitting, Mr Afenyo-Markin withdrew his statement, saying, “Colleagues expressed a concern about the issue of age. Mr Speaker, the submission was to the effect that our opponents don’t have a clear succession plan for the future [and] not to denigrate their running mate based on age. So I withdraw that aspect of the submission that referred to her age as the basis of my contention.”
Also touching on this matter, the Majority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh said during a press conference in Parliament on Monday that “In our standing orders if somebody said something that is impugning a wrong motive you have the right to rise up at where you are and take the person on.
“Our colleagues should learn how to be tolerant, they should up their sense of tolerance. When Ato Forson and co were speaking, assuming without admitting that the Majority Leader had said something that borders on personal attacks on Prof Opoku-Agyemang, that is not how to go about it but we will be kind enough, that is how democratic we are, we always show the way.
“If it is the case that the mention of Prof and her age is their problem we will depart from there but the fact will be told, the story will be told, and the abysmal performance of John Mahama and their administration we will continue to expose that. Let nobody begin any crusade that we went on a viral attack on womanhood, that we will never do.”