Majority leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has described as ridiculous and total untruth ‘claims that former Minority leader the Hon. Haruna Iddrisu was in bed with him.’
According to him, the interest they two shared as leaders in the House was their determination to grow Parliament and ensure it performs its assigned roles of legislation, financial control, oversight and representation among others.
He urged Ghanaians to disabuse their minds of this corporation and collaboration between the Majority and Minority leaders and claim they were ‘bedfellows.’
“Haruna and I are not gay; we were working on some determined principles to grow this Parliament in our democracy,” he said.
Speaker at the leadership forum with members of the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC) on Wednesday, which is held at the beginning of every sitting, the Majority leader indicated he had a very harmonious working relationship with Haruna and his group and stressed the suspicious surrounding this partnership was uncalled for.
According to him, the Majority leader works to facilitate government business and works harmoniously with the Minority leader to achieve optimum effects for the government business.
“There were many occasions the Haruna-led minority leadership disagreed with me and indeed the Majority, especially on account of policy. When the government and the other parties have taken a policy decision that cannot be reconciled with the policy decision of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), certainly there will be hiccups and you may see fireworks.”
“It doesn’t mean we are enemies. To the largest extent possible, we must work together to grow Parliament and also ensure Parliament performs its assigned roles.”
“I tell you when it comes to crafting bills, most of the MPs who participate in the winnowing are from the Minority caucus, not even the majority. That is how it’s supposed to be,” he said.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu cited examples of the relations he had with Hon. Cletus Avoka and Speaker Alban Bagbin when they were the Majority leaders and he was the minority leader and questioned whether that meant he sold out.
According to him, that was the same kind of relationship he had with Haruna Iddrisu who, for six years was the Minority leader and stressed he necessarily had to cultivate his friendship.