The opposition National Democratic Congress’s refusal to pay heed to warnings about the ill-treatment of Haruna Iddrisu, Tamale South Member of Parliament, has come back to haunt the party, with cracks deepening as the 2024 general elections draw near.
Veteran journalist and Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, warned the party last year about what he described as a ‘reckless decision.’ This followed the Rambo-style replacement of Haruna Iddrisu as the Minority leader, leading to cracks within the party. The change, which did not sit well with many in the party, sparked protests, even among some MPs. Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, MP for Tamale Central, openly chastised the party leadership, and some MPs, including Samuel Nartey George, demanded the suspension of the decision.
Kwasi Pratt, commenting on the change, warned that the party should have considered and taken certain actions before removing Haruna, especially considering the political circumstances. “Were those things done? … Reckless move! Absolutely reckless move! So what have you achieved? You’ve now created conditions for speculation,” he said on Pan African Television in January 2023. He added that, while Haruna may have his faults, he is ‘primus inter pares’ in the northern region, and mistreating him would come back to haunt the party.
However, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, National Chairman of the party, defended the decision, claiming he had the challenge of either sacking Haruna Iddrisu as Minority Leader or resigning as Chairman. “And I am not ready to resign,” he added. He argued that the sacking of Haruna Iddrisu was part of the reorganization process to help the party capture political power in the 2024 elections. He alleged that the previous Haruna Iddrisu-led Minority leadership failed to cooperate with the speaker of Parliament, Alban S.K. Bagbin, making things difficult for the NDC in the House, hence his decision to remove and replace them with people who can cooperate with the speaker for the benefit of the party.
About a year later, the repercussions of the decision, as stated by Mr. Pratt, continue to haunt the NDC, with supporters locking up the party’s regional office in Tamale. On Tuesday, January 16, 2024, disgruntled NDC supporters locked up the party’s regional office in Tamale, threatening to lock up all constituency offices in the region.
The move was in protest of the arrest of Alhaji Abdul Hamid, popularly known as Alhaji Gbewaa, a regional Vice Chairman of the party. Alhaji Gbewaa’s arrest followed an incident that occurred on Saturday, January 13, 2024, at the Global Dream Hotel in Tamale, where the NDC’s Regional Vice Chairman assaulted the Regional Treasurer, Hajia Shamima Razak.
Shortly after the incident, Hajia Shamima Razak reported the matter to the Regional Police headquarters for justice to be served. Consequently, the supporters of the Regional Vice Chairman gathered at the Regional party headquarters to present a press release, requesting the immediate release of Alhaji Gbewaa and threatening to stop all party activities in the Region. They also called on the National executives to intervene for his immediate release, citing the incident as a mere internal party issue.
The actions of the youth follow a recent scuffle that happened in Tamale during a stakeholders’ meeting, leading to an assault on Sofo Azorka, National Vice-Chairman, and the Regional Treasurer. The party’s National Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, who was also at the meeting, had to be whisked away to safety.
The meeting was an attempt to resolve deep cracks in the party stemming from the removal of Haruna Iddrisu as Minority leader. The altercation erupted when the party’s National Vice-Chairman, Awudu Sofo Azorka, criticized the four Members of Parliament in the Tamale enclave for boycotting the meeting—a comment that infuriated supporters of the MPs. As a form of protest against the perceived mistreatment of the Tamale South MP, Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, along with Alhassan Suhuyini and Alhassan Bashir Alhassan (ABA) Fuseini, MPs for Tamale Central, Tamale North, and Sagnarigu, respectively, together with Haruna Iddrisu, boycotted the meeting.
