Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the Deputy Minority Leader and NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembele, stating the position of the Minority at the public sitting of the Appointments Committee of Parliament before walking out, said the Caucus had taken note of indecent attempts by the Majority side to short circuit and circumvent the due process required in the vetting of the President’s nominee for the position of Minister of State at the Ministry of Energy.
He noted that the long-standing parliamentary practice required that persons nominated for appointment by the President shall be published in a newspaper of national circulation to inform, request memoranda or representation from the public.
“This ordinarily means that the public ought to be given reasonable notice and adequate time to submit memoranda or make representations to the Appointments Committee,” he stated.
“These requirements have totally been breached. The Minority is at a loss as to the rationale for the indecent haste on the part of the Majority, particularly as there is a subsisting Minister of Energy and the nominee is already a Deputy Minister of Energy.”
Mr Buah noted that last week, it took a strong push back from the Minority to call off the vetting of the same nominee just a day after the referral by the Speaker to the Appointments Committee to ensure that the appointment was advertised.
He said the Minority wishes to serve notice that it would not be part of any hasty process deliberately designed by the Majority to deny the people of Ghana participation in the work of the Appointments Committee and Ghana’s democracy.
He said consistent with the Minority’s earlier position, the Caucus would not participate in the vetting of any ministerial nominee that adds to the already bloated size of this Akufo-Addo/ Bawumia Government.
“Again, the Minority cannot support the President’s nomination for the Minister of State at the Ministry of Energy at a time when Ghana is going through very difficult periods, including crippling economic crisis, food insecurity, debt default, corruption, state capture and wasteful expenditures.”
The Deputy Minority Leader reiterated that the Minority once again calls on President Akufo-Addo to downsize his government to signal to the people of Ghana that, at the very least, he was in tune with feedback and appreciates the challenges resulting from the bad economic policies of his government.
He said it could not be the case that while the Government asks the people to tighten their belt, those in government would have no belt at all.
Mr Buah said under the circumstances, the NDC Minority Caucus could not in good conscience participate in the vetting of yet another injury time ministerial nominee.
