Former Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu, says he was not pushed to resign from his position as leader of government business in parliament, as speculated.
The Suame legislator in February of this year formally announced his resignation as Majority Leader, a position he held for over seven years.
Weeks later, he insists he resigned to save the New Patriotic Party from chaos.
“I was resigning to save the party; I was resigning to prevent any chaos in the party. That’s all that I can say. But I think ever since I did, I have refused to speak to any station.“
Mr. Kyei-Mensa-Bonsu who first entered parliament as the representative of the Old Tafo-Suame constituency in 1997, was first appointed secretary to the NPP Minority Caucus a year later.
He is the first parliamentarian to serve as Minority Leader for eight years and Majority Leader for over 7 years, respectively.
Ahead of his resignation, it was rumoured he was to be replaced.
But what started as a 'Palace Coup’ in parliament saw Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu officially announcing his resignation after a meeting with President Akufo-Addo in February.
Despite 82 out of 137 MPs from the Majority Caucus showing solidarity, he decided to resign from his position.
So why did the Suame legislator resign? Was he pushed? He told Joynews in an exclusive interview he wasn’t pushed out of his position.
“I resigned voluntarily. Nobody pushed me; nobody touched me, I resigned voluntarily. Looking ahead, I saw that even though 82 out of 137 MPs had come to show solidarity with me, I could see some gathering storm.”
Though the former Majority Leader will not give details, he insists he is happy his decision did not adversely affect the Bawumia presidential agenda, and also saved the New Patriotic Party from an impending storm.
“The major project ahead of us is breaking the 8. The project I believe in is having Bawumia to be elected as President of this country. Anything that would obstruct that; anything that would negatively impact that, I wouldn’t want to be part of it,” he said.
“I didn’t want to be the eye of the storm so I pulled myself out. And the then impending storm is subsiding and I think it was the best decision that I took,” Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu explained.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has officially announced his intention not to contest the Suame seat again after 28 years in parliament.
Credit: Ohemeng Tawiah