Five nominees get Parliamentary nod
Parliament on Tuesday approved the appointments of five persons nominated by President John Dramani Mahama for various ministerial positions.
They are Dr Benjamin Bewa-Nyog Kunbuor, Minister in Charge of Government Business in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, Minister for Trade and Industry, Mrs Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong, Minister for Justice and Attorney-General, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, Minister for Energy and Petroleum and Mrs Dzifa Attivor, Minister for Transport.
First Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the Appointments’ Committee, Mr Ebo Barton Odro, who presented the third report of the Committee for adoption by the House, said the nominees acquitted themselves creditably during the vetting process and satisfied all requirements for their positions.
Members of the Majority, who contributed to the motion, said the nominees pleased the Committee with their response and that they were not in doubt about the competence of the nominees to head those ministries.
But before Speaker Doe Adjaho put the motion to vote, MP for Shai Osudoku, Mr David Tetteh Asumeng sought to draw the Minority into the mater even when they had opted not to be part of the deliberations of the appointments committee and subsequent voting processes on the issue.
He asked rhetorically whether “those who were sitting on the fence” who did not want to be part of the vetting of ministers would quiz the same government functionaries when they appeared on the floor of the House to answer questions pertaining to their ministries.
Mr Asumeng said: “It is morally wrong for you to sit on the fence and claim salaries” and the Minority immediately asked the Speaker to call him to order and demanded a retraction of that statement.
The Minority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, said his side took serious exception to such statements, explaining that the Minority’s stance on the appointments issue was a matter of principle that did not negate any of the standing orders of the House.
He said though the Minority had declined to be part of the process of approving the ministerial nominees, reports on those ministers presented to the House, was the property of Parliament, which ought to be debated by both sides, in which case his side would avail themselves to questioning those appointees when their issues were called in the Legislature.
Source: GNA