The Minority in Parliament, has urged the Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, to apologize to the group over his comments on its decision not to approve ministerial nominees.
The Deputy Minority Leader; Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, speaking to journalists, said the Minority caucus will stop working with Mr. Afenyo-Markin, if he does not apologize and proceeds on the tangent of insulting members of the minority group.
“We believe that we are in a serious time of crisis and this House is a serious House. It is not a house of insults, and we are not going to descend into the gutters with him. If he is going to be serious in engagements, then he should. If he goes on this path, then we will not deal with him as a leader.
“We will urge him that he should apologize, so we can move on because clearly, our focus is basically to fight for the people of Ghana.”
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah
Mr. Armah-Kofi Buah’s comment comes after the deputy Majority Leader, Afenyo-Markin described as political immaturity, the position of the Minority not to approve any of the ministerial nominees.
“We in the Minority wish to make it clear that we remain committed to ensuring greater scrutiny and will spare no effort to protect the public purse. In line with this, we are taking part in the vetting process so that at the very minimum, we can scrutinize the President’s decision in bringing up those nominees. However, the Minority will not subscribe to a consensus vote at the level of the Appointments Committee.”
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah
Our Position Hasn’t Changed; We Won’t Approve New Ministers
The Minority caucus in Parliament is sticking to its position; not to approve any of the ministerial nominees despite participating in the vetting process.
The Minority, had stated that they will not approve any of the nominees selected by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to fill some vacant positions in government. The decision followed a directive by the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Fifi Kwetey, for Minority members on the Appointment Committee to reject all the nominees.
A section of the public had, however, hoped that the position of the Minority will be altered after participating in the two-day vetting process and particularly grilling some of the appointees for long periods of time. The Majority caucus in Parliament on Tuesday also appealed to the National Democratic Congress (NDC), as well as the Minority caucus to rescind the decision, of not approving the new ministers.
Addressing the media, the Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, appealed to the NDC and its members in Parliament to support the approval of the ministerial nominees.
“I just want our colleagues to understand that for the sake of unity, and the desire for us to forge a working relationship, this is their major decision. In terms of the fact that they are coming into leadership; this would be the first time, more or less, that they are going to make such a significant decision”.
Frank Annoh-Dompreh
But speaking to the media on Tuesday, Minority Chief Whip, Governs Kwame Agbodza, said their position remains the same. The Adaklu MP added that their decision was based on principles and not personal interest.
“We stated earlier, that it has nothing to do with the personalities. We also stated that it was based on principles and that the country’s debt levels, were unsustainable and government should find a way of realigning ministries.
“As we speak there is no movement in terms of our decision not to support at this stage, so nothing has changed in our position about approval or disapproval of the nominees.”
Governs Kwame Agbodza
The nominees vetted include Bryan Acheampong, for the position of the head of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, replacing Dr Afriyie Akoto who resigned to pursue his presidential vision; Stephen Asamoah Boateng was also vetted to oversee the affairs of the Chieftaincy Ministry.
The rest are O.B. Amoah, the MP for Akwapim South, now Minister-designate of State at the Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development Ministry and Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, MP for Karaga, now Minister of State designate at the Finance Ministry.
READ ALSO: OB Amoah Defends Akufo-Addo
