The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has rubbished claims by the Majority Leader that his appointment onto the Parliamentary Service Board (PSB) will affect the integrity of the House.
According to Asiedu Nketia, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu only demonstrated double standards to suggest that he is politically exposed to serve on the Board.
Speaking to Emefa Apawu on JoyNews' The Probe on Sunday, the Chief Scribe said the Speaker of Parliament did no wrong in nominating individuals he has confidence in to advise him on pertinent issues regarding Parliamentary business.
"If you don't expect President Akufo-Addo to appoint his enemies as ministers and advisors, why do you expect Alban Bagbin to appoint his enemies or opponents as his advisors.
"He is not communicating to anybody. He is just expressing his fears but unfortunately, Parliament is not run on the basis of the fears of Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu. It is run on the laws," he said.
He quizzed, "Before Bagbin came what was Parliament? Was it an enclave of NPP? Because the Speaker was NPP, the former MPs who should serve on PSB were from NPP leadership and I don't want to believe that the workers and the advisors of the Speaker at that time were CPP.
"So if they were all NPP at that time and now you have another Speaker, I am wondering whether Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu was expecting Bagbin to appoint his opponents to advise him".
Last week, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister in an interview with Joy News expressed misgivings about how the Speaker is gradually turning the House into an enclave for NDC following the several appointments of party members to serve in varied positions in his office.
He also described Mr Asiedu Nketia as an intrusive General Secretary whose current position in the opposition party makes him unfit to be on the six-member Advisory Board of Parliament.
He fears the former Wenchi West MP's membership on the Board will taint the integrity of the Legislature.
But Mr Nketia said the Suame MP "lacks parity of reasoning and that there was no way Mr Bagbin will nominate his political detractors to advise him."
"I didn't expect Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu who was all over the place when we were accusing the President of nepotism in his appointment and so on. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu was all over the place saying that we expect the President to appoint his enemies as ministers. So what has changed?"
He believes his 12 years of experience in Parliament; serving on various committees and boards qualifies him for the role.
The veteran politician also revealed that the offer to serve on the Parliamentary Service Board was made in January 2021 albeit with a lot of resistance from the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). But Mr Bagbin remained resolute in his decision to get him on board.
"This is an appointment that has been contested severely to a point where I heard people saying anybody in the world is preferable to Asiedu Nketia. But Bagbin also said that he wanted Asiedu Nketia over any other person in the whole world"
Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia said that he is happy to accept the appointment to the Parliamentary Service Board because he wants Alban Bagbin to succeed.
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