Speaker asks Oti Bless to apologise to Chief Justice
The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, says he and the leadership of the House are working to amicably resolve a possible case of contempt against Mr John Bless Oti, a Deputy Minister Designate.
He directed Mr Oti, who had been vetted by Parliament’s Appointment Committee, to apologise to Chief Justice Georgina Wood for derogatory comments he made against her.
President John Dramani Mahama nominated Mr Oti, Mr Emmanuel Bombande and Joseph Tetteh Angmor as Deputy Local Government Minister, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, and Deputy Eastern Regional Minister respectively.
Parliament, after vetting them, approved two: Emmanuel Bombande and Joseph Tetteh Angmor; but the approval of Mr Oti, who is also Member of Parliament for Nkwanta North has been put on hold until he apologise to the Chief Justice for derogatory comments about her.
“The last thing that I would like to do as the Head of the House is to have this House and the Head of another arm of government having problems,” Mr Adjaho said just before the House went on recess on Friday.
“I have, therefore, behind the scenes, taken some steps in consultation with some members of the leadership of the House to see how this matter can be resolved.
“As a result of those consultations, it is important that the member of this House that made those statements must apologise,” he said.
Speaker Adjaho says he believes an apology would help mitigate the bad precedent set by the MP and Deputy Minister Designate, adding that if the matter was left unresolved and the nominee was given the nod, “it will serve as a dangerous precedent.”
He said: “It is my duty to guide the House against any business that will put this House in difficulty.”
Mr Oti’s approval was objected to on Thursday when the Minority raised issues on the basis that he (Mr Oti) on a programme on Montie FM in Accra, had accused the Chief Justice of being in league with the NPP in an attempt to reverse the election results in 2008 and in 2012, among other allegations.
On that same programme, the two panelists and the radio host had made death threats on the Supreme Court justices.
The other discussants on the radio programme are serving jail terms of four months each and the Minority believes Mr Oti must be called to order for those derogatory remarks.
It was expected that the House would endorse the deputy minister designate to assume his position within the next four months before the general election.
The Speaker asked all other uncompleted issues, including that of Mr Oti, to be reserved till the House returns from recess, which would possibly be next September or October.
Source: GNA