My Heart Is Heavy As I Vacate My Seat -Kunbuor

The outgoing Majority Leader in Parliament, Dr. Benjamin Kunbuor, gave an emotional speech during the last session of Parliament last Friday, stating that he was vacating his seat as leader of the august House with �a heavy heart�. Dr. Kunbuor, who is among the last list of nominated ministers announced by President Mahama, has been designated as the Minister for Defense. Delivering a speech to mark the end of the second session of the sixth Parliament, he disclosed that he had a very wonderful experience as the leader of the august House. In his words, parliament has made him more matured than he had ever expected and that managing politicians was not what even the Master of Business Administration (MBA) teaches. �Mr. Speaker, I want to say that I have had a very, very wonderful experience with Hon. Members in this House even though I must confess that managing human beings and for that matter politicians is not what you are taught in the business school. And if am to write my memo, my period in this house would take chunk of it. �Even though this might be the last time I stand before this dispatch box to deliver a statement as the leader of this House, I must say if I succeed in my new endeavor, then I owe it to this House and if I fail then it means Parliament has produced a failed leader,� he said. He thanked his colleagues, especially the Minority leader, saying �I have said this before and I will say it again, what I am today I owe it to you, the minority leader�. He also thanked the media for their relentless effort in propagating the affairs of the House. But the Minority leader, Hon. Kyei Mensah Bonsu, in his remarks registered his displeasure about the president�s decision to shuffle the majority leader. �Mr. Speaker, there is a rather high attrition rate for the seat of majority leader and this does not help to grow parliament, considering the fact that the majority leader should be the leader of the House. �If majority leaders could be shuffled out of parliament at the pleasure of the executive arm of government, then parliament becomes imperiled�, he lamented. Hon Kyei Bonsu ascertained that the majority leader, who doubles as leader of government business in terms of status, was more higher than any sector minister, but was quick to congratulate the outgoing majority leader. He used the opportunity to lament over the increasing polarization of the august House and cautioned that the leadership must begin to realize there was something wrong somewhere. On that note he commended the media, stressing that they (minority) would continue to partner with the media, whether the House is in session or on recess, to ensure that government will be kept on its toes. The Rt. Hon Speaker, Edward Doe Adjaho, who presided over the House, thanked ministers of state and Members of Parliament for their cooperation in helping him steer the affairs of the House. He, however, emphasized that consensus was the only way for the House to progress, but lamented that it was not the case.