From Unpredictable to Startling: NPP government’s recent major transitions

There’s a lot of unpacking going to happen in this article soon, but the most important of all of them is the fact that these are things that concern the ruling political party in the country; the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

And on any given day, news about the NPP should not be much of a big deal, save for the fact that they are obvious newsmakers, but the events of the last week or so have placed it in a rather different class of such pedigree.

It all started on Wednesday, February 14, 2024, at least in recent times. On this day, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo dropped the first major shocker when he made a massive shakeup to his government.

Worth noting is the fact that since he took office on January 7, 2017, the only time the sitting president did any such thing was on this Valentine’s Day. And it had come on the back of several calls, appeals, and even demands from people within and outside the very corridors of the party.

At least, a reference to when some over 80 Members of Parliament from the Majority Causcus in Parliament (NPP MPs) vowed and dared to boycott all government business should President Nana Akufo-Addo fail to sack Ken Ofori-Atta as Minister of Finance comes to mind.

Eventually, Ken was sacked but that cannot directly be linked to this mounted pressure from his colleague party members, although it was a substantial part of the motivations.

Akufo-Addo sacks Ken Ofori-Atta, Amoako-Attah, others:

In that sort of expected reshuffle, President Akufo-Addo brought the longest-serving finance minister title that Ken Ofori-Atta, his cousin, held to an end. It was welcome news for many because of all the criticisms they had ascribed to Ofori-Atta, particularly in terms of his management of the economy of Ghana.

Among other major sacks by the president was the former Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Attah. He as well had been at post since 2017.

And the list goes on but honestly, it was much of a charade that only saw most of the appointees being moved around from one appointment to another. And as some say, it was much ado about nothing.

But again, that was only the first of the major recent happenings in the NPP

Bawumia announces campaign team:

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the Flagbearer of the NPP, met with the National Executive Committee of his party during its National Council meeting on Monday, February 19, 2024, and announced a major decision to them.

The vice president presented his list of campaign team members to the Council, listing Nana Akufo-Addo and former president John Agyekum Kufuor among the members of his Campaign Advisory Committee.
The campaign team also comprises senior members with experience in campaigning and political strategies, who are lined up to support the bid of flagbearer Mahamudu Bawumia.

Peter Mac Manu, who was the campaign manager for Akufo-Addo, is also on the list, with the chairman of the Bawumia campaign team being Dan Botwe, the former Minister of Local Government. He would be supported by Deputies Fred Oware and Nana Akomea.

The communication team will be led by Dennis Miracle Aboagye, Adomako Baafi, Krobea Asante, and Akbar Rouhani. They will be supported by spokespersons Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Gideon Boako, and Antoinette Tsibu Darko.

They will be tasked with articulating the party’s message and engaging with the public effectively.

See the complete list below:

That wraps up the second significant event in the NPP in the last couple of weeks. But there was a bigger shocker.

Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu resigns as Majority Leader:

The reason this came as a shock was that in the 48 hours leading up to the announcement, there were numerous developments regarding whether or not the Majority in parliament was about to experience a shakeup.

In the first place, several news reports had been indicating that Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, the current Deputy Majority Leader, was being prepared to take over the substantive role in the House.

Although this was not from any official channels, the Member of Parliament for Bekwai, cum First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei Owusu, addressed a press conference to defuse all those speculations.

“The publications that are going around are false. The Majority caucus has not made any changes to its leadership, and the Majority caucus has not contemplated making any changes to its leadership and we want to tell you to ignore any such publications.

“We are confident in the leadership that we have and the status quo shall remain,” he said during the presser.

This was on Tuesday, February 20, but by the evening of Wednesday, February 21, news started circulating about the resignation of the very man the caucus had insisted was going nowhere.

And his resignation was with immediate effect.

According to reports by multiple media outlets, the Member of Parliament for Suame who doubles as Minister of Parliamentary Affairs announced his resignation during a meeting with members of the caucus at the Jubilee House on February 21, 2024.

According to the report, the meeting was convened by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

The meeting was called to resolve confusion among members of the Majority caucus over a proposed reshuffling of the front bench in Parliament.

It then emerged that things spiralled out of control during that meeting with the president in a way that caused that sharp, unexpected announcement from Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu.

An announcement on who will replace the Majority Leader is expected to be made later on Thursday.

But this is not a closed chapter as many political watchers already project that there could be more developments coming from the NPP any time. GhanaWeb is keeping its ears on the lookout for any such developments and will provide updates.