Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Bagbin: No malice in my criticism of President Mahama

Bagbin: No malice in my criticism of President Mahama Alban Bagbin[/caption]


A former Majority Leader in Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has stated that his recent pronouncements on the governance system of the country were not made out of malice.


“We all took the party’s manifesto to the people for them to give us their mandate,” he said, explaining that “if something is going wrong, we all have to see to it that the wrong is righted”.


Speaking exclusively to the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, Mr Bagbin, who is also the Member of Parliament for Nadowli-Kaleo, said the President himself was aware that not only ordinary Ghanaians were discontent with the slow implementation of government policies and programmes but some members of the NDC were worried as well.


“Governance is slow and grinding to a halt; we need to fulfill our electioneering promises and all well-meaning members of the NDC have to make inputs to make this government succeed,” he said.


Mr Bagbin, who also served as a Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, as well as Health, in the late Professor Evans Atta Mills’s government, said it was unfortunate that people around the President had started insulting him and calling him names.


Let’s debate the issues


“Let us debate the issues,” he said, and called for a halt to attacks on people such as he who had chosen to be objective.


Although Mr Bagbin is not a minister of state now, he is one of the five eminent NDC stalwarts who have been constituted by the President to co-ordinate the implementation of some projects promised during the 2012 electioneering.


He said it was unfortunate that some people within the NDC had misconstrued his pronouncements as a means to prepare himself for the party’s presidential primary towards the 2016 elections.


“I have no such ambition,” he said, adding that no matter where he served, the main objective was to serve the people.


Resignation


On whether he was considering resigning his position in the face of such cacophony, Mr Bagbin stated that it would be a defeatist stance, since it would be better to stay within and offer constructive criticism than opt out.


He said he would be surprised if the President sacked him because of his recent pronouncements, adding that his actions were rather meant to ensure that the Mahama government succeeded.


Sycophancy


Mr Bagbin asked people surrounding the President, particularly Stan Dogbe and John Jinapor, to stop exhibiting ignorance.


“I am in a better position to know the President. The President knows what we have done together and what I have done for him. They should, therefore, stop exhibiting sycophancy. I know the President more than they do,” he stated.


Mr Bagbin added that it was crucial for all members of the NDC to work towards saving the country from collapse, adding that the President had his strengths and weaknesses “and we should assist him by telling it as it is”.


Recent Comments


In his recent comments in the media, Mr Bagbin expressed concern over corruption in the country and said he was yet to see a semblance of political leadership and commitment to fight the canker.


He particularly expressed frustration at the government’s handling of the findings contained in an investigative report on the operations of the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA).


A committee set up by the government to conduct the investigations cited some officials for complicity in shady deals and plain stealing and recommended their prosecution.


The report also recommended the abrogation of some contracts with service providers under GYEEDA.


But months after the report was submitted to the President, action is yet to be taken and Mr Bagbin believed it had taken too long for the government to act on the recommendations.


Source Graphic Ghana News



Bagbin: No malice in my criticism of President Mahama

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