Mahama Ayariga, Member of the appointment committee and the Member of Parliament for Bawku Central has disclosed that, a ministerial nominee can be disqualified by the House in parliament.
Speaking on the upcoming ministerial vetting, he revealed that, there has been instances where a nominee has been withdrawn on the fact that, the House thought the person was not well qualified or the person was not serious about the nomination.
“And in those instances, you are just given the power and authority to withdraw the nominee in order to reduce the pain and disappointment that comes with it.”
Additionally, Mr. Ayariga noted that, the committee to vet the nominees cannot reject anybody but rather, the committee can make recommendations to the House to reject a nominee.
Speaking on the issue of some members of the appointment committee having also been nominated and if they will be barred from voting, he noted that they have the power to vote during the vetting due to the standing orders of the House.
“When you are a candidate in an election, you probably get to vote. You have the right to vote. It is a bit complicated in this issue because I know specific provisions that say that you should not vote.
“Usually, decisions that has to be taken usually where someone has a personal interest, like in a contract or on a business decision, you only have to declare your interest but ethically you don’t have to vote.”
He then disclosed that, the nation has not witnessed a situation whereby a member of the appointment committee has also become a nominee for a ministerial appointment.
He averred that, ordinarily the members involved should be given the right to vote due to the fact that they are Members of Parliament and also members of the appointment committee.
Commenting on the upcoming vetting and the expectation of Ghanaians as to how the process will go, he posited that, Ghanaians have this time around taken a keen interest in it because of the equal numbers of Parliamentarians and also the possibility of the minority group being able to reject a nominee.
He further averred that, he does not think things will be done differently this year with regards to the work of the committee.
“You are to assess whether or not someone is fit to be a minister, there are constitutional criteria for whether or not someone is fit to be a minster and then there are other considerations. So, I mean all considerations are clear.”
Parliament has released the schedule for the vetting of the first list of ministerial appointment for President Akufo-Addo’s second term which is expected to spread across the month of February and the first week of March.
The process will begin on February 10 and end on March 9. The Committee is expected to vet three nominees a day.
The Minister-designate for Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, and Minister-designate for National Security, Kan Dapaah, will face the Committee first.
This, Haruna Iddrisu, the ranking member of Parliament’s Appointment Committee has explained is to enable the Health Minister to get to work as the country’s Covid-19 cases surges. He said certain portfolios will be prioritised because of the nature of their job.
