Economist and political risk analyst, Dr Theo Acheampong says the decision taken by the executives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to change the leadership of the Minority Caucus came as a shock.

According to Dr Acheampong, the ousted leaders have performed remarkably well in terms of holding the Akufo-Addo-led administration to account in Parliament.

The Economist made this statement in an interview on Newsfile on Saturday, when host, Samson Lardy Anyenini asked his view on the shake-up in the NDC party in parliament.

“I think Haruna, Muntaka and Avedzi, looking or from where I sit, they’ve actually performed creditably well as the leadership of the minority in actually holding the government to account. The quality of governance from the parliamentary side of things has actually improved with this 137 split-out."

"So for them to be reshuffled, tells some of us that perhaps there are other factors or considerations at play, and not necessarily because of the works that they’re doing in parliament and for the party," he said.

The NDC reshuffled its leaders in parliament on Tuesday, January 21, 2023. This change affected three major positions: the Minority Leader, Deputy Minority Leader and the Minority Chief Whip.

Per the new changes, Haruna Iddrissu, lost his position as Minority Leader to Dr Cassiel Ato Forso, while MP for Ketu North James Klutse Avedzi was succeeded by MP for Ellembelle, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah as Deputy Minority Leader.

The MP for Asawase, Muntaka Mubarak was also replaced by Kwame Governs Agbodza as Minority Chief Whip, while the positions of Ibrahim Ahmed and Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe as First Deputy Minority Whip and Second Deputy Minority Whip, respectively, were retained.

Meanwhile, Dr Acheampong believes that the current division between members of the party over this change gives an indication that enough consultation was not done in choosing the new minority leaders.

For this reason, he believes that the current push-back might have an impact on the party’s chances in the 2024 elections.

However, he added that it was “too early in the day to predict to what extent that if any, would impact the party’s chances, come 2024.”