Prez Mahama Snubs Majority Leader

The divisions and antagonism in the ruling National Democratic Congress government, apparently arising out of the �vindictive� leadership of President John Dramani Mahama appear to have reached a crescendo, with negative developments that are undermining governance and the administration of the nation. Information available to the �New Statesman� indicates that President John Dramani Mahama is at loggerheads with many key personalities in the NDC administration, who are seen as posing some kind of threat to his decision to exert firm grips on the ruling party. One of such personalities is the majority Leader of Parliament and Minister for Government business, Benjamin Kumbuor. The rift between President Mahama and Dr Kumbour has become so critical that the president is said to be unprepared to meet his Minister for government business for interactions to enable him know what is going on in government. This has contributed in great measure to the virtual grinding of governance and administration of the nation to a halt. Meanwhile a former Majority leader in the previous Kufuor administration, Abraham Aidoo, has urged President Mahama and Dr. Kumbuor not to allow any personal rift between them to affect the national interest. Speaking on Oman FM yesterday, Mr. Aidoo said it was anomalous for the President not have made Dr. Kumbour a cabinet minister or to keep him in dark about what is going on in government. According to governmental and parliamentary sources, virtually no government business is being transacted in Parliament at the moment as a result of the feud between the two personalities. Parliament on Tuesday sat for just ten minutes because items on the Order paper required further scrutiny by the business committee. That was not an isolated case. For the most part of the last three weeks since the House reconvened, sitting have been brief because there is virtually no government business for consideration. Dr. Kumbour, the majority leader has complained bitterly about being kept in the dark about what is going on in the Mahama administration, even though he is the one to champion the business of government in Parliament. The majority leader said on the floor of Parliament last Friday that he would not push though any government business which falls short of proper due diligence. He lamented that as non-cabinet member, he was not privy to the reasoning that inform decisions and policies of the government. According to him the situation impedes his capacity to do specific follow-ups to the various MDAs Ministries, Department and Agencies to ensure the proper conduct of government business. Under the previous Kufuor-led New Patriotic Party government, Majority leaders were either made cabinet minister or always invited to cabinet meeting if they were not cabinet ministers. This according to some former and current MPs was important to enable the majority leader to be always abreast of issues in government and to have proper understanding of the rationale behind decision taken by government. Meanwhile the majority leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, has questioned the president�s decision to exclude the majority leader from his cabinet. According to him because the majority leader head government business in parliament, he must necessarily be a cabinet minister.