The Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Sam Nartey George, has clarified that the Minority Caucus of Parliament cannot stop the approval of the new ministerial nominees of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as has been asserted in the media.

According to him, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs do not have the numbers to block the approval of the new appointees.

Speaking in an interview on Good Morning Ghana, on Tuesday, which was monitored by GhanaWeb, Sam George added that the new appointees can only be rejected if members of the Majority Caucus, New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs, support the NDC MPs when the report of the Appointment Committee is brought before the plenary.

“The impression is being created that the NDC will reject the nominees at the committee (the Appointment Committee of Parliament). The NDC does not have the capacity to do that and let us be clear on what is going to happen.

“That committee is made up of 25 members, 13 on the NPP side if you count the chairman, who is the first deputy speaker, and 12 on the NDC side… if all the members of the committee cast their vote along party lines and the chairman casts what we call his casting vote because there is a tie. And it will be safe to assume that he will vote in favour of the NPP, so, we will have 13 against 12.

“What we will then have is a committee report approving the nominees by majority decisions and not by consensus… this means that for each of the nominees, there will be a full debate on the House on their issues,” he said.

The MP went on to explain that when the House is done debating the approval of a nominee, a voice vote will be called by the Speaker of Parliament.

After the Speaker rules on the voice vote, whether the ayes have it or the nays have it, any member of the House can challenge his decision and then call for a vote by division.

He added that because the NDC MPs are now 136 and the NPP MPs 138, the only way the Minority Caucus will win the vote by division is if some Majority Caucus MPs decide to vote with them.

Meanwhile, Parliament’s Appointments Committee has vetted all the ministers and deputy minister nominees recently announced by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

On Monday, February 20, 2023, the house vetted ministerial nominees including the Member of Parliament (MP) for Adansi Asokwa, K. T. Hammond, as the minister-designate for Trade and Industry, MP for Abetifi, Bryan Acheampong, has been nominated as the Minister for Food and Agriculture, while Stephen Asamoah Boateng is going to the chieftaincy and religious affairs ministry as minister.

On Tuesday, the committee vetted Osei Bonsu Amoah, the minister of state-designate for Local Government; Stephen Amoah (Sticka), the MP for Nhyiaeso, who would serve as the deputy Trade and Industry Minister if approved; and Mohammed Amin Adam, the MP for Karaga, who was named by President Akufo-Addo as Minister of State – designate at the Finance Ministry.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has directed the minority caucus in parliament not to approve any of the new ministerial nominees appointed by the president.

According to the party, the caucus should rather push for a reduction in the size of government to reduce the needless drain on scarce public resources.

You can also watch this episode of People & Places on GhanaWeb TV below:

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