by Benjamin Mensah
Accra, April 5, GNA - Members of the Minority National Democratic Congress (NDC) side on the Appointments Committee of Parliament Wednesday boycotted sittings to vet deputy ministers designate.
They said the Majority had sidestepped an agreement for the House to go on recess on Wednesday, April 5, 2017.
Parliament is expected to go on recess by Friday, April 7, but the Appointments Committee will continue vetting the remaining 50 deputy ministers designate.
Mr Osei Kyei-Mensa-Bonsu, the Majority Leader, informed the House last Friday that it would rise on Friday prior to the Easter holidays, a move which the Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, rejected and insisted on an earlier sine die adjournment.
Mr Iddrisu had spoken of possible fatigue of the Members of Parliament and the fact that the rescheduling of adjournment was affecting the schedule members who had already planned their time to visit their constituencies.
He served notice that members on his side would not sit beyond Tuesday’s vetting as well as Wednesday’s sitting in the Chamber, explaining that the recess should begin on Wednesday, April 5, 2017.
He said the Appointments Committee could submit its report on the deputy ministers within the period for Parliament’s approval.
The Majority Leader, however, did not agree.
At least five deputy ministers-designate are expected to be vetted on Wednesday.
Enquiries by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) have shown that per the timetable of the Appointments Committee, it was not supposed to sit on Wednesday, April 5, 2017, and the batch being vetted now had originally been scheduled for May.
Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the MP of North Tongu, told journalists that the members of the Minority side on the Committee were taken by surprise on the insistence to vet the nominees despite the notice served by the Minority Leader.
“We did serve notice… that we cannot continue to vet after Tuesday so let nobody say notice was not served. We served notice and we asked that the agreement, which we all reached at the Appointments Committee and the timetable which we agreed on, is followed,” Mr Ablakwa said.
He said they were embarking on the boycott because they felt the right thing was not being done, and that the batch that was being vetted currently were not supposed to be vetted until May.
“If you check the publication that went out, the group that is being vetted this week were supposed to be vetted in May; a month from now, so why the rush?” he asked.
Mr Ablakwa said: “The Majority has sought to take us by surprise and we had expressed concern about the way we were being treated as far as the Minority side is concerned. We were not being supported to do diligent work.”
He said the vetting was a very serious exercise which required due diligence and thoroughness.
“We don’t want to be part of the rush and don’t want to be part in doing shoddy work,” Mr Ablakwa said.
The House has, so far, approved 11 deputy ministers for the various ministries as well as 10 deputy regional ministers.
To read the full piece from Ghana News Agency, click here.