Lawyer Delanyo Alifo advises NDC parliamentarians to apologize to NDC supporters

In the current NDC internal melee, where supporters and some in leadership are accusing the party's Members of Parliament of having betrayed the supporters and executives of the party by approving many or some of President Akufo Addo's ministerial nominees, Lawyer Eric Delanyo Alifo sides with the base of the party and advises the MPs to apologize to them and let the party move on.

Read Lawyer Alifo's full statement below...

OUR MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT MUST RESPECTFULLY APOLOGIZE TO 'HURTING' SUPPORTERS AND LET'S MOVE ON TO REORGANIZE OUR PARTY

When in the night of January 6th, 2021, you guys (our MPs) had strategized and successfully annexed the majority side of Parliarment, and went on to elect a Speaker known to be one of our own, all of us were delighted. Little did we know that our excitement shall be transient.

Soon after that, you had allowed our opponents to appoint Mr. Joe Osei-Wusu as the 1st Deputy Speaker without any challenge from you against the Member, who a day ago had likened our supporters who had been killed during the elections to criminals, and had rationalized why it was not necessary for the President of the Republic to make any reference at all to them in his SONA.

Then a day or two later, we saw you succumbed too easily in the process leading to the Speaker's declaration of NPP as the majority side by coining the term "Majority Group." This took away all the beautiful things some of you had said earlier about equal distribution of committees and their leadership between you and our opponents, etc.

At this point, many of us, members and supporters of our party had concluded regrettably that our side in Parliament was too willing to cut deals or play soft ball with our NPP opponents. Our opponents do not play their politics like that at all, and they will never change. We have learned that their game is the same from UP, PP, and NPP eras. They have always played their politics to the detriment of their opponents, which is us, in this case.

They don't care about how non-NPP Ghanaians feel. They shall go any lengths to achieve any goals they have set for themselves, whether it is about dismembering their main opponents like the NDC. Unfortunately, we are either too ready to support them and play along, or too susceptible to their tricks.

But even after the initial let-down and anticlimax of events in the Parliament, most of our supporters were still hopeful of a real showdown at the vetting of President Akufo Addo's ministerial nominees, who were largely the same persons in the same positions in the last government. The expectation of our supporters, that many of the nominees shall be rejected, was widely recommended, and you (our MPs) were very much aware of that.

Then we were hit very hard, on the day after Mr. Domelevo had been wrongfully, and painfully axed by a wicked and vindictive government, and when the predetermined judgment in our election petition was finally about to come, we learned that our MPs had approved almost all of the President Akufo Addo's ministerial nominees.

Many did not believe what was unfolding. When it had finally dawned on us, many were outraged, and they have expressed diverse views in abject anger. In the course of the wrangle, our very dynamic and untiring Communication Officer, unable to take the heat from supporters anymore, was unrestrained, and unleashes his frustration in all honesty and anyhow.

The aftermath is full of reactions and counter-attacks from some of you (MP) or your perceived supporters. What you would notice however, is that there other persons, some, very respectable in society, who are also complaining about your action, which is the subject of the squabble. These people are not necessarily members of the NDC. This must leave you with no scepticism that the whole country, in exception of die-hard NPP members, are disappointed by your action.

It must therefore forewarn you that the anger of our supporters is justified. It follows that since Mr. Sammy Gyamfi has simply spoken for millions of our supporters, he cannot become an object of vitriolic attacks by any you our your supporters. All of us, members and supporters of the party are fully behind him, even though he may have acted in a little more passionate intensity.

In this melee, the only reasonable way out is for you (our MPs) to apologize to the members and supporters of the party. You have to understand that you are not in Parliament as independent Members. You are NDC representatives. All of us have worked for your victory. We have the right to be angry at you, but you don't have the same right to be angry at us.

You are accountable to us, members and supporters of the party and we can summon you anytime to explain your conduct in Parliament to us. The opposite is not true. You don't have any right over us. You owe us a duty of loyalty to the party, and you shall have our support always when we are satisfied with your conduct.

In light of the above, and in the best interest of the party, I wish to advise our parliamentary caucus to apologize unreservedly to our supporters and assure us that you shall never betray our trust and interest, the party's interest ever again.

It shall be a mark of good leadership and maturity to rise to the occasion and apologize to our supporters. Nothing else can rebuild the requisite trust and confidence of our supporters in you. Please do this quickly and let us move forward. We have a tough reorganization process ahead of us.

Thanks for reading.

Eric ƉELANYO Aliƒo