The Minority in Parliament has accused the Chairman of the Appointments Committee, Bernard Ahiafor of deliberately obstructing their ability to properly scrutinize ministerial nominees during the recently concluded vetting process.
According to the Minority, critical steps traditionally taken to ensure a thorough examination of nominees were disregarded, resulting in what they described as a rushed and superficial vetting process.
Addressing a press conference, Minority Leader John Darko lamented the lack of transparency and due diligence in the process, emphasizing that the Chairman’s actions compromised the integrity of the vetting exercise.
“Members of the Committee were not provided with the nominees’ CVs in advance, a practice that has been the norm in past vetting processes. When the CVs were eventually presented, the Chairman refused to allow preliminary discussions on them, effectively stifling meaningful scrutiny,” Mr. Darko said.
The Minority further alleged that the Committee’s actions were a calculated effort to shield the nominees from critical questions and limit the public’s understanding of their qualifications and suitability for the roles.
The Appointments Committee convened to vet three key ministerial nominees: the Finance Minister-designate, the Energy Minister-designate, and the Minister for Justice and Attorney General-designate. Notices of the nominations were received by the Speaker of Parliament on January 9, 2024, and subsequently referred to the Committee for consideration.
In line with parliamentary practice, nominees are usually given a waiting period of about three weeks to allow the Committee to obtain public feedback on their suitability for office. However, in the interest of national development, the Minority agreed to an expedited process in collaboration with the Majority side.
Despite this concession, the Minority maintains that the vetting process was marred by procedural lapses and the deliberate actions of the Chairman to curtail meaningful engagement.
The Minority in Parliament is accusing the chairman of the vetting committee of denying their members the opportunity to properly scrutinise the minister designate during the just ended ministerial vetting.#TV3GH pic.twitter.com/IABI9xSVoq
— #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) January 15, 2025
