A group of National Democratic Congress (NDC) Branch Chairmen have commended Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, for not abandoning his position on what they say is miscalculated appointments that former President John Mahama made while in office.
Coming out at a time that detractors of Hon. Bagbin are using every dirty trick in the book to paint him as somebody who hates disabled persons, the NDC Chairmen said the position of Hon. Bagbin is a truth that is shared by the silent majority in the party including former President Mahama himself.
“If you have been observing former President Mahama himself, his demeanor and language has changed significantly; even before he would deliver his letter of intent to the party head office, the former President made it clear that he has come to realize that there were some mistakes he made while in office,” the group said.
Led by Mr. Joseph Amekortu, the Concerned Branch Chairmen of Greater Accra NDC said they are very glad that Hon. Bagbin had not allowed himself to buckle under the huge wave of negative propaganda that erupted over his observation.
According to Mr. Amekortu, “This is why Hon. Bagbin is very respected within the party – he speaks the truth and stands by it. And I can tell you that in this matter of President Mahama’s wrong appointments, he spoke the minds of the silent majority in the party.”
Hon. Bagbin, while on a campaign tour in the Volta Region had stated that one of the many mistakes that former President Mahama had made leading to the NDC’s massive defeat in 2016 was that he had made wrong appointments.
These appointments, he said, included Hon. Okudzeto Ablakwa, a man who has unresolved issues with the University of Ghana being made the Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Tertiary Education. Because of Mr. Ablakwa’s unresolved issues with Legon, the appointment courted hatred for the NDC government.
He also pointed out that the Communication Minister position can be equated to that of a Linguist’s position and therefore said that President Mahama had had it wrong when he appointed Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, who stammers in that position.
Hon Bagbin had also observed that though Dr. Seidu Danaa was richly qualified to head any Ministry, his appointment as Chieftaincy Minister was a miscalculation because of his visual impairment. The leading NDC Flagbearer hopeful pointed out that because of the longstanding culture in Ghana that Chiefs must not associate with disabled persons, Dr. Danaa’s appointment courted hatred for the NDC government among Ghanaian chiefs.
Even though the observations were very much in order, the media reported them out of context and soon an anti-Bagbin faction within the NDC, jumped on a bandwagon top paint Hon. Bagbin as a hater of the disabled in society.
“It is very sad that these propagandist campaigns are coming from within our own party. Those creating this propaganda are effectively saying that Hon. Bagbin attacked his own NDC party members, which can never be true.
Is it not a fact that we were hated by Chiefs because of the appointment of Dr. Danaa? Even President Mahama himself knows this. Hon. Bagbin never attacked disables outside the NDC, why will he attack disabled people within his own party? He never attacked any disabled person, he only observed a fact,” Mr. Joseph Amekortu said.
He added that those who think that this propaganda will make Hon. Bagbin unpopular are joking. “We are very glad that even former President Mahama himself has acknowledged that he made mistakes that cost us dearly while he was President. If the former President himself has vindicated Hon. Bagbin, is it his hangers-on that can convince us otherwise?”
Mr. Joseph Amekortu warned that the propaganda against Hon. Bagbin, a respected elder of the party, is smearing on the party itself and does not augur well for the party. He said the propagandist moves are actually making Hon. Bagbin more popular within the party since he spoke the minds of the majority of the people in the party.
As for they the Branch Chairmen, he said, their votes are for Hon. Bagbin.
Mr. Joseph Kwei, a branch Chairman for Star Basic Two said, “Bagbinis already vindicted by former president Mahama and no amount of propaganda would prevent us from making Bagbin the next flagbearer, we the branch level delegates are many and Bagbin’s critics are few”.
