Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the former Majority Leader in Parliament has confessed that he misses being a member of parliament.
According to Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, he misses parliament even though he remains actively engaged with its leadership.
He further noted that occasionally things come up that he feels if he was around he would have handled them differently.
Speaking in an interview on JOY NEWS, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu admitted, “Human as I am, I do miss Parliament”.
“Occasionally, things come up, and you think that, well, maybe if I were to be around, I would be doing things differently”, he added.
“But let me say that I also engage the leadership on both sides, and colleagues call when there are issues to test my mind on those matters,” he revealed.
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu further added that so far, so good for the ninth parliament.
“And I think so far, so good—a few hiccups, though, that I thought shouldn’t have happened the way they did”, he added.
The veteran lawmaker, in an earlier interview revealed he resigned as Majority Leader to avoid implosion in the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The former majority leader revealed some of his colleagues, about 80 MPs informed him ahead of time that the president wanted him out.
He revealed the NPP MPs encouraged him to fight back, assuring him of their support.
Speaking in an interview on Asempa FM on Tuesday, March 4, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu detailed, “…What he [the president] said was that at the time, the NDC had elected John Mahama as their presidential candidate, but he hadn’t yet selected his running mate. Based on how things were going, we knew Professor Naana Jane would be his choice”.
“At the time, Ato Forson had also taken over from Haruna Iddrisu as Minority Leader, meaning the NDC was expected to have both its Vice presidential candidate and Minority Leader from the same region.
So, the president said the party’s visibility in the Central Region was low, and we needed to strengthen our presence there that is why they wanted someone from the Central Region,” he added.
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu further revealed he decided to step down to prevent internal party chaos.
He narrated, “I was informed about my removal by the president at the time. He called the MPs and ministers to discuss the decision with them”.
“So, when the issue came up, over 80 MPs out of the 137 signed a petition stating that they had heard I was being removed and wanted me to assure them that I would stay on, as they were ready to support me.”
“When I entered the meeting room, the president was not yet there. Some of the ministers told me they had heard about my removal and urged me not to accept it because they were ready to stand by me.
“But when the president arrived and explained the decision, he emphasized that it was a party decision, not his personal choice.
At that moment, if I had resisted, as the MPs suggested, it could have caused a major implosion in the party. So, I decided to step down.”
Meanwhile, Alexander Afenyo-Markin the now minority leader for the NPP in parliament has revealed some members of the New Patriotic Party attacked him for fast-tracking President John Mahama’s ministers.
Speaking on the KSM Show the minority leader revealed, “When we lost the election, some people attacked me for allowing Mahama’s ministers to go through the vetting process faster than expected. But I said, look, we don’t need to create a vacuum. Let’s push it through. The government must be formed quickly. If they make mistakes, that’s when we can criticize them.”
He further added, “There are times my colleagues disagree with cooperation. There are times they don’t like my approach. But as a leader, you must always balance it. Everyone wants a space. You listen to their views, and you make an input, but you can’t satisfy everyone. You just have to get it through and move on.”
“I have to play my role as Minority Leader. I have a responsibility to lead the rebranding of the party. The base must be activated, and we must hold the NDC to the fire.”
“The most important thing is that it’s a perception-driven enterprise. People must see that you are fighting for your party. That’s what matters”, he added.
