Sammy Gyamfi spoke the mind of NDC hierarchy in Facebook post - NEC member

Former Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Baba Jamal has disclosed that the hierarchy of the opposition party finds nothing wrong with comments made by the National Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, regarding the conduct of their caucus leaders in parliament.

According to him, though Sammy Gyamfi may have gone a bit overboard, the party's hierarchy does not see anything distasteful with what he said.

The NDC's National Communications Officer recently launched a scathing attack on Minority MPs on Parliament’s Appointments Committee in the wake of the latter's decision to approve some Ministerial appointees of the Akufo-Addo government, despite express directives from the Functional Executive Committee of the party that those ministers-designate be rejected for various reasons.

He accused the party’s leadership in Parliament as well as the Speaker, Alban Bagbin of betraying the NDC, saying the NDC no more regarded Mr. Bagbin as an NDC Speaker; even though he attained the position on the party’s ticket.

Specifically naming the Minority Leader and the Tamale South Member of Parliament (MP), Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, and the Minority Chief Whip and MP for Asawase, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, Mr. Sammy Gyamfi said the duo “brazenly defied the leadership of the party and betrayed the collective good for their selfish interest.”

“And we, must not let them succeed in their parochial quest to destroy the NDC, the party that has done so much for them and all of us. The shame they have brought on the party will forever hang like an albatross around their necks,” he said in a post on Facebook on Thursday, March 4, 2021.

The post came after Parliament approved Mavis Hawa Koomson, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, and Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto as ministers of state for various portfolios through a majority vote. Ten other nominees were approved through consensus.

Days after his remarks, some members of the public considered Sammy Gyamfi's remarks as a sign that the NDC lacks leadership and even described the accusations leveled against the leadership of the minority caucus and the Speaker of Parliament as an attack on the entire House, for which reason he should be dragged before the Privileges Committee.

But speaking on Okay Fm's Ade Akye Abia programme, Baba Jamal pointed out that a meeting by the National Executive Committee of the party, of which he is a member, concluded that there was nothing with what Sammy Gyamfi said on social media.

According to the former NDC MP for Akwatia, it is important that the collective agenda of the party overrides anyone's parochial interest; no matter that person's position.

"He really said what was on the mind of most of us. Though he may have gone to the extreme, the party does not see anything wrong with what he said because that was the time the party needed a unified front to fight for the country."

"But if as members of parliament, who are representing the party in parliament, you can forgo the direction of the party to satisfy your own interest then you don't have the collective agenda of the NDC at heart," Baba Jamal added.

He maintained that though the National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo remains the leader of the party, "it is also imperative to understand that HE John Dramani Mahama also has a stake in the affairs of the party."