Parliament approves 12 more Deputy Ministers-Designate, defers three

Parliament, on Friday, deferred the approval of threeof the  persons nominated to be Deputy Ministers by the President, and approved 12, their vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament.

The three are: Mrs  Gifty Twum-Ampofo, Education; Mr Amidu Issahaku Chinnia – Food and Agriculture; and Ms Diana Asonaba Dapaah – Deputy Minister for Attorney-General.

Their approval was deferred over some concerns raised by the members of the Minority Side on the Appointments Committee.

 The 12 approved approved by consensus are: Andrew Kofi Agyapa Mercer –  Energy; John Ntim Fordjour –  Education; Mr George Mireku Duker –  Lands and Natural Resources; and Mr Kofi Amankwah-Manu – Defence.

Others are Nana Eyiah Quansah – The Interior; Mr Hassan Sulemana Tampuli – Transport; Mr John Ampontua Kumah – Finance; and Mr Frederick Obeng Adom – Transport.

The rest are: Mavis Nkansah-Boadu –Roads and Highways; Mr Evans Opoku Bobie –Youth and Sports; Mr Mohammed Hardi Tufeiru –Sanitation and Water Resources; and Tina Naa Ayeley Mensah – Health.

Mr Joseph Osei Owusu, Chairman of the Appointments Committee, moved the motion for the House to consider the report of the Committee on the President’s deputy ministerial nominees.

The Committee said it struck out the name of  Mrs Twum-Ampofo from its report due to unresolved issues over her approval.

The Committee members were,  on Thursday, divided on the approval of Mrs Twum-Ampofo, at the consideration of its report to the plenary.

The stand-off occasioned the postponement of the approval processes for the second batch of nominees  on Thursday, June 17, 2021.

After the Abuakwa North MP’s vetting on Thursday, June 10, 2021, Mr  Alhassan Suhuyini, the Member of Parliament for the Tamale North Constituency, announced his decision to kick against the approval of Mrs Twum-Ampofo.

To Mr Suhuyini, Mrs Twum-Ampofo did not give a satisfactory response on her alleged bribery of New Patriotic Party delegates ahead of the party’s 2020 parliamentary primary.

“I’m therefore disappointed in the nominee’s lack of candour and what seems to be a conscience that is dead to the threat of bribery and corruption to our democracy,” he said in a public post.

There was some brouhaha from First Deputy Speaker Joseph Osei-Owusu, the Chairman of the Appointments Committee and Ranking Member Haruna Iddrisu, over the time Mr Suhuyini made his intention known to the Committee.

It was unclear if the Tamale North MP was going stick to his threat to trigger a vote by the entire House on her approval or drop his reservations to enable an approval to be based on consensus.

 This led to the Speaker adjourning, sitting for the leadership of both caucuses to engage and arrive at an amicable solution.

After the approval of the Deputy Ministers Designate, Speaker Alban Bagbin advised them to strike a balance between the work in Parliament and that of the Executive.