The Ashanti Caucus of New Patriotic Party (NPP) Assembly Members has cautioned the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, to leave assembly members out of his diabolical scheme of things in his quest to come to power.
The group, with a membership of over 1,580 in all the 43 districts of the Ashanti Region, said its members are tired of the former President’s lying spirit and intentions of driving a wedge in the people of like minds for his parochial interests.
At a press conference staged in Kumasi on Tuesday, in response to Mr. Mahama’s proposal to pay monthly allowances to assembly members, the group condemned the use of a splinter group, GAAM, to fashion out sinister motives and hidden agenda of the NDC, noting that similar juicy offers were made in the 2012 NDC Manifesto, to no avail.
The assembly members want to be left alone and desist from attempts to disorganise and eventually consign the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG) that regulates the operations of the assemblies and members, including welfare, to the dustbin.
Isaac Ohemeng, Dean of the Ashanti Conference of Presiding Members, addressing the media on behalf of his colleagues, pointed out that workshops, and refresher courses, among others, are part and parcel of the operations of the assembly members, and that the NALAG was capable of managing its own affairs without any political interference whatsoever, if it is strengthened and well resourced.
The spokesman also questioned the legitimacy of the splinter group, made up of only elected assembly members, in contrast to the established norms of the District Assembly concept, as contained in Act 462 of 1993, as amended in Act 936 of 2016, the 1992 Constitution, and other relevant by-laws to the effect that the composition and full complement of the assembly comprises both elected and government appointees.
The group also enquired as to when and where the Ghana Association of Assembly Members was formed, and who the leadership and membership are, and who is behind its formation, and above all, why Mr. Mahama thinks assembly members needed his intervention when he had kept them as agents of development by adopting a dictatorial style of governance, and rendering the systems and structure ineffective during his tenure.
The group has, therefore, sounded a word of caution to the former President to realise that his mission is impossible, and must stay clear of assembly members, because “we are of age, and we can fight for our inalienable rights with the passage of time.”
The post NPP assembly members reject Mahama’s proposed welfare package appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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