Minority raises concerns over unfair treatment at vetting of Ministers
The Minority Caucus in Parliament has raised concerns over its alleged unfair treatment at the Appointments Committee and mishaps in the process leading to the vetting.
The Caucus described as unfortunate the insufficient question time given to members and friends of the committee to examine matters in detail during the vetting of the three ministers designate last Monday.
They are Minister of Finance designate, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, Minister of Energy designate, John Abdulai Jinapor, and Attorney General and Minister of Justice designate, Dominic Ayine.
CVs
Addressing a news conference at the Parliament House last Wednesday the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Tano North, Dr Gideon Boako, who is also a friend of the Vetting Committee indicated that curriculum vitae (CV) of nominees were not provided to members ahead of the vetting.
He stated that while the CVs were provided late, the Chairman of the Appointments Committee, who doubles as the First Deputy Speaker, Bernard Ahiafor, did not allow for extensive examination of the same as preliminary issues.
Dr Boako described the late provision of the CVs by the nominees and the conduct of the Chairman of the Appointments Committee as calculated attempts to obstruct constructive and effective scrutiny of the nominees.
“The Chairman of the Appointments Committee was the first real obstacle to a diligent vetting of the ministerial nominees. He denied the Ghanaian people and the minority members of the committee the opportunity to conduct a thorough vetting of the nominees. He was protective of the nominees and extremely partisan,” he said.
He stated that the Chairman denied legitimate members of the committee the opportunity to ask relevant questions and railroaded the nominees through the process.
Protest
The first-time lawmaker indicated that the altercation witnessed by Ghanaians between the Minority side and the Chairman was a direct protest against his conduct, as it cannot be for him to deny members of the committee the opportunity to scrutinise the nominees.
He urged the Chairman and the Majority members of the Appointments Committee to change their posture at the committee as it holds a tendency to cause irreparable harm to the country’s democracy by putting round pegs in square holes.
Dr Boako also lamented the performance of the three nominees at the vetting, saying the Ministers designate were evasive, inconsistent and lacked clarity of thought.
He cited the Minister designate for Finance’s response to questions relating to the campaign promise of making tuition fees free for first-year university students and the inclusion of private schools in the Free SHS policy as deceitful and disappointing.
“For instance, on the specific matter of whether the government would cater for the first-year tuition fees of tertiary students as promised, we found the Minister designate’s response highly disappointing.
Commenting on the performance of Minister designate for Energy, Dr Boako described his responses as lacking accountability because of his decision to review the “gold-for-oil” policy introduced by the previous government, which he described as a “scam”.
He further stated that the inconsistent position of Mr Jinapor, the Energy Minister designate, on challenges of the energy sector and the government’s consideration to privatise the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) was a source of concern.