Expedited vetting of Ministers-designate announced by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday will largely depend on how the appointees carry themselves before the Appointments Committee of Parliament, Kwasi Ameyaw- Cheremeh, Majority Chief Whip and Member of Parliament for Sunyani East, has said.
According to him, the committee would, as expected, be meticulous in the vetting of the ministers-designate to ascertain their competence and to ensure they are without blemish.
His comments follow an appeal the president made to parliament, shortly after announcing his first list of ministerial appointees, to expedite the vetting process to allow his appointees to begin their work in quick time.
Mr Akufo-Addo said: “I am hoping that Members of Parliament will act expeditiously. We are at a very difficult moment in the life of our country. All of us know that our economy is not in a good place and I am asking the House, in my letter to Mr Speaker, to act expeditiously on these nominations so that as soon as possible I will be able to assemble the government and get off in fulfilling the promises I made to the Ghanaian people and be able to ensure the progress that they are looking for.”
Touching on the president’s appeal in an interview with Chief Jerry Forson, host of Ghana Yensom, on Accra100.5FM on Wednesday January 11, Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh said: “Although we have to speed up the process, we also have to do a proper scrutiny of the ministers-designate so we do not err. If we, the Appointments Committee, fail to do a good job, the entire House will be embarrassed, so we need to ‘hasten slowly’.
“It may happen that some of the appointees may not even spend 30 minutes or an hour [before the committee], while others may spend more than five hours. All these depend on how the appointees carry themselves as far as answering questions is concerned. Even the answers they will give may open the door for follow-up questions.”
On his part, the Member of Parliament for Banda, Ahmed Ibrahim, said the Minority was willing and prepared to support the new government.
He said: “For us in the Minority, we even took the initiative to speed up the setting up of the vetting committee because we believe Ghana must move on. Minority Chief Whip Muntaka Mubarak and I went to the Majority Leader (Osei Kyei-Mensah- Bonsu) and discussed with him our plans for the vetting process, and so we are prepared to support the process. For us the minority NDC, we have resolved to assist the president to achieve his vision for the country.”
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
