The National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, has expressed disappointment about the behaviour of Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, flag-bearer of the Convention People’s Party, on the sale of Ghana Telecom.
According to Mr. Ayariga, Dr. Nduom and some members of his party were vociferous on the deal and openly opposed it, but when it was placed before Parliament for debate, he (Dr. Nduom) failed to make any contribution to even support or reject the motion.
Speaking on Joy FM’s current affairs programme, Newsfile, on Saturday, Mahama Ayariga said, “The worst part of it was that when we were voting he was not there to vote against the whole transaction.”
Parliament on August 14, 2008, voted by a majority decision in favour of a deal between the government of Ghana and Vodafone International Holdings Company BV of the United Kingdom, where the former offloaded 70% of its shares in Ghana Telecom for $900.
Mahama Ayariga said, “The most unbelievable and ridiculous aspect of it was that his own party member on the floor of the house was the one who seconded the motion for the sale, and when we got to voting, all his other party members voted in favour of the sale.”
He said Nduom’s attitude could cast a slur on his credibility, irrespective of his message to the electorate in his bid to become Ghana’s president.
“One, it raises very serious questions about credibility, I mean, this is a credible leader of the CPP or this is just somebody who is playing politics?
“Because, he says this is the position of my party, and constitutionally he is the leader of the party, and on the floor of parliament, we don’t hear it and the worse part of it is that he can not whip his rank and file to support a position that he says is the position of his party.”
However, Dr. Abu Sakara Foster, 1st National Vice Chairman of the CPP and Executive Director of Rural and Agriculture Development Associates, disagreed with Mahama Ayariga’s assertion on the credibility of the party’s flag-bearer and also noted that the leader of the party is the chairman and not the flag-bearer.
He reiterated the party’s position on the GT sale thus; “The party is not complaining about how much GT is being sold for, but rather that fundamentally, we're opposed to the sale of strategic assets; and also we want to ensure, even if this thing goes through, the mechanisms by which we can exact the terms of that sale.”
He also warned politicians against using disparaging words on their opponents because that would not win them votes.
Dr. Nduom was in parliament in the early minutes of the debate to sell or not to sell the shares, walked out in protest against what he said was improper approach to the issue.
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