The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Member for Bekwai, Joseph Osei-Owusu, says the Majority caucus will remain focused and decide where to go next, following the resignation of Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu as Majority Leader.
The Suame MP was reported to have tendered in his resignation from his post on Wednesday night at a meeting convened by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and held at the Jubilee House in Accra after weeks of speculations.
That decision by the Suame MP, the First Deputy Speaker said, was a big blow and a disappointing one considering his dedication to the cause of Parliament and the country as a whole.
“I am disappointed that Kyei decided to stand down. He’s been a fantastic leader. Extremely hardworking and I would have wished that he stayed on to the end. It came to me as a surprise.
“Anybody close to him knows this. He is extremely hardworking and can sit from morning to morning if there’s work to be done.
“I would have wished that he stayed on because I am extremely confident in his competence and leadership…but he opted to resign,” the First Deputy Speaker told parliamentary reporters in Accra yesterday.
Mr Osei-Owusu on Tuesday led the caucus to address the media where he reiterated their confidence in the Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu leadership following rumours that the seventh term lawmaker had been penciled to be replaced by his deputy and MP for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin.
According to Joe Wise, as he is affectionately called, it had not been communicated to him or the caucus whether or not a new leader had been nominated, discussed or chosen.
Asked how the exit of Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu could affect the caucus and the governing New Patriotic Party going into the 2024 general election, he said they would internally assess that and adopt measures to turn it into positives.
“Moving forward, the caucus will discuss all the ramifications of the effect of our leader resigning and the process of selecting a new one. We’ll discuss all that and if there are any negative implications in our caucus, we may decide and plan a route that will keep us together.”
Meanwhile, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, uncharacteristically took a back seat on the second row behind the front bench when he reported to the plenary sitting yesterday.
After having a tete-a-tete with the outgoing Akuapim South MP, Osei Bonsu Amoah for about five minutes, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu moved to the leader’s seat; dispelling rumours from optics point of view that he had resigned from his post as majority leader.
Of the 275 chairs in the chamber, it is only the majority and minority leaders who occupy the two black ones with the other members assigned brown ones. No other member is permitted to sit on the black seats even in the absence of the leaders.
Dropping his file and spectacle case on his table and sitting for about a minute, the seventh term member moved to the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu where they had a brief conversation.
After about three minutes with the First Deputy Speaker, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu walked back to the black chair he had occupied for the last seven years, picked his file and spectacle case and left the chamber whilst sitting was still underway.
At the close of sitting yesterday, however, Mr Afenyo-Markin and Frank Annoh-Dompreh, MP for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, reported to be the next deputy majority leader were all absent from proceedings.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
