General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah has questioned the principle on which Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency resigned from the Appointments Committee of Parliament.
Speaking in an interview on JoyNews TV, Mr. Asiedu Nketiah said the North Tongu MP failed to indicate in his resignation letter or demonstrate prior to his resignation that he holds certain principles for which reason he had to resign in order not to act against them.
He opined that the explanation given by Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwa as the basis of his resignation is vague and does not communicate anything substantial to the people of Ghana particularly his constituents who gave him the mandate to represent them.
“The letter simply says that he is resigning based on principle and also on personal reasons and that he will not be participating in the vetting of Deputy Ministers. It is so open-ended. When he talked about principle, what principle are we talking about?
He hasn’t expatiated on the type of principle but if you look at the content of the letter, it is perfectly possible for somebody to argue that maybe he believes that the same group of people who vetted the ministers should not be vetting their Deputies so on principle, he doesn’t want to be part of the group that that will be vetting Deputy ministers so he has resigned. It is perfectly legitimate for somebody to think like that,” he stated in an interview on JoyNews TV.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa resigned from the Appointments Committee stating personal reasons and principle as the basis of his resignation.
In a letter announcing his resignation, the North Tongu MP said he had arrived at the decision to resign after days of careful reflection and thoughtful consideration.
Many, however, attributed his resignation to the decision of the Minority to consent to the approval of Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
But Asiedu Nketiah believes his resignation would be an act of bad faith if it has anything to do with the approval of the Ministerial nominees.
According to him, Mr. Ablakwa should have indicated his disapproval of the ministers during the approval process or resigned from the committee before the approval if he really believes his principles as an individual were against such approvals.
His participation in the approval process without any objection, the NDC’s General Secretary asserted, meant that he had acted against his supposed principles and therefore, he should have expounded in his resignation the circumstances that led him to participate in the approval of the ministers against his principles and then proceed to offer an apology rather than giving vague explanation for his resignation.
“But if it has something to do with the work that had been concluded on the vetting of the main ministers then my humble view is that the resignation is belated. And even if it is not belated, he should go further to explain,” he added.
Mr. Asiedu Nketiah continued to say “So if you participate in all that and you have to resign, my humble view is that you resign and offer some apology that you’ve acted in certain ways against certain principles that you hold dear so you are apologizing to your followers who expected you to uphold your principles”.
