NDC influenced my removal as majority leader – Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu drops details

Former Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has provided details of the circumstances that led to his resignation from the position on 21st February 2024.

According to him, the decision to replace him with the Member of Parliament for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, was influenced by decisions made by the then-opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Speaking in an interview with Asempa FM, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu recounted how some 80 MPs urged him to resist his removal as Majority Leader before he was officially informed of the decision by the then-President, Nana Akufo-Addo.

He revealed:

When the issue started, about 80 of the MPs signed a petition and urged me to hold on, assuring me of their support.

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Even in the meeting, before the President arrived, some ministers informed me about the President’s decision and advised me not to accept it. During the meeting, the President told me that it was a decision taken in consultation with the party.

However, he added that after the President’s speech, he proceeded to resign from the position to avoid any division within the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

When he was speaking, I wrote down a few notes, and when he was done, I told him that I had resigned. The room fell silent, and some of the MPs felt that I had disappointed them.

What he explained was that the NDC, at the time under President Mahama, was yet to name his running mate, but we were certain that it was going to be Professor Naana Jane.

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The former Majority Leader further revealed:

So it meant that the NPP’s influence in the Central Region was diminishing, and we no longer had visibility, especially as the Minority Leader, Ato Forson, was also from the Central Region. They, therefore, felt the need to choose someone from the region.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu added that despite his displeasure with the decision at the time, he prioritised the unity of the party, noting that he would have been partly blamed for the NPP’s significant defeat in the 2024 elections.