How Can A Blind Man Lead Chiefs – Bagbin Jabs Daana

The second deputy speaker of parliament, Alban Bagbin, has attributed the defeat of the NDC during the 2016 election to the decision by former President Mahama to appoint a visually impaired official. Read more:

The Member of Parliament for Nadowli Kaleo over the weekend launched fresh onslaught on his former boss questioning why Dr Henry Siedu Daana was made the minister of Chieftaincy Affairs when he is blind.

“These were some of the mistakes that cost us dearly. Let me cite another example, in our tradition if you are not whole can you be a chief or grandmother?

“So if you form a government and make the minister of Chieftaincy a blind person and the chiefs are objecting and you don’t change him what are you telling the chiefs”, he asked party communicators during his tour of the Volta Region to solicit the support of delegates.

He said under Mr Mahama the party made “grievous political mistakes”, adding that, it is for this reason “that some of us want to take up the leadership mantle of the party”.

According to him, the party cannot afford to repeat similar mistakes going into the next general election in 2020.

“He is a very intelligent boy, he is smart but when he is speaking, he wastes time in coming out and Ghanaians do not have that much patience, so, they are always looking for those that are rattling.

“So, even though you might have a good message, you will not succeed in marketing that message because somebody is there from the other side rattling and they are listening to him, so, we came down.

“You didn’t realise it, I studied governance and leadership up to the Master’s [level], so, I have some of these things at hand… They were some of these mistakes that cost us dearly.”

Turning attention to Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament said Mr Mahama made a “terrible political decision” by appointing the latter as Deputy Minister of Education.

He said although the North Tongu legislator has all the relevant academic qualification, he lacked the necessary experience and technical know how to occupy such a sensitive position.

The NDC is expected to go for a national delegates’ conference in December to elect national officers and presidential candidate for the 2020 general elections.

Currently, five party heavyweights have declared their intention to become the standard-bearer of the party, including former president John Mahama, Joshua Alabi, Slyvester Mensah, Ekow Spio-Garbrah and Mr Bagbin.