Minority boycotts Appointment Committee sitting; says process being rushed

The Minority members on the Appointments Committee of Parliament have boycotted sitting over concerns that the vetting process was being rushed.

According to a member of the minority, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa the committee was supposed to go on recess this week but there was no consensus in the decision to continue the process of vetting the remaining 50 deputy ministerial nominees named by President Akufo-Addo today [Wednesday].

The North Tongu MP added that the minority had also expressed concerns about the way the process was being rushed in an attempt to push through the "elephant size and historic number of ministers" who are to be vetted hence the decision to stay away from Wednesday's sitting. 

He said, "The minority leader expressed concern that what had been agreed at the business committee and the appointment committee was that we will take a break and then we will return in May to continue with the vetting of the remaining deputy ministerial nominees." 

"What has happened is that the majority has sought to take us by surprise. Remember that we expressed concern about the way we were being treated as far as the minority side is concerned and so we were not being supported to carry out diligent work.

 "CV's will come a night to the day, some of the CV's come in the morning because everything is being rushed and so, you are not able to carry out the needed due diligence, background checks and all of the that.

"You also have a situation where people have been advertised, if you check the publication that went out, the group that is being vetted this week, they are supposed to be vetted in May, so why the rush? ...diligence is required, thoroughness is required, we need to carry out a scrutinous exercise of our mandate as members of the appointment committee. Under the circumstances, you look at the elephant size appointments that have been done, these are historic numbers, 110 it has never happened , no Appointments Committee has ever vetted 110 ministers," Mr Ablakwa said.

The deputy minister nominees who are being vetted on Wednesday April 5 by only the majority side are Mr Andy Appiah Kubi (Deputy Minister Designate for Railways Development), Major Derrick Oduro (retd, (Deputy Minister Designate for Defence), Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum (Deputy Minister Designate for Education), Mr Eugene Antwi (Deputy Minister Designate for Works and Housing), Barbara Oteng Gyasi (Deputy Minister Designate for Lands and Natural Resources) and Kwasi Boateng Agyei (Deputy Minister Designate for Local Gov’t and Rural Development).