The Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has voluntarily stepped down from his position in the House. The move comes after a crunch meeting between the Majority Caucus in Parliament, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) national leadership, and President Akufo-Addo.
At the said meeting on Wednesday, 21 February 2024, held at the Jubilee House, the seat of Ghana’s presidency, the NPP leadership told the Majority Caucus about its desire to have a new person as the leader of its front in Parliament.
According to an Asaase News source who attended the meeting, the Member of Parliament for the Suame Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, voluntarily decided to step down as the Majority Leader following the suggestion made by the party leadership.
The source indicated that after Mensah-Bonsu announced his decision to step aside, his colleague MPs gave him a standing ovation as a sign of honour and respect for his 23 years of dedicated service to the nation and the NPP as a Party.
President Akufo-Addo subsequently eulogised and thanked Mr Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu for his long and dedicated service in Parliament.
Mensah-Bonsu has since been named by the New Patriotic Party’s presidential candidate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, as the head of his Election 2024 policy and manifesto team.
He has served in the ranks of the NPP parliamentary leadership for about 23 years. During this period, he was Majority Leader for 15 years and two months, deputy leader for four years, and chief whip for four years.
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu takes up the vital role of leading “Team Bawumia” to fashion out the NPP’s manifesto around the vision of the party’s presidential candidate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
This will, in turn, be sold to the people of Ghana in the run-up to the 7 December 2024 general election.
New leader
The role of Majority Leader following the exit of Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu is likely to be filled by Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the current deputy Majority Leader and MP for Effutu in the Central Region.
The choice of Afenyo-Markin as Majority Leader is seen as very strategic as he is in his early forties and hails from the Central Region.
Political analysts also point out that the NPP vice-presidential running mate is likely to come from the Ashanti Region and that the NDC’s John Mahama is also poised to announce Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, who is from the Central Region, as his running mate.
The importance of the Central Region as a swing region, especially in determining which party holds a majority of parliamentary seats, makes Afenyo-Markin’s elevation one of the most strategic decisions the NPP will make in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.
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