Parliament has approved two ministerial nominees and three nominees for appointment to the Supreme Court submitted by President John Dramani Mahama in accordance with Article 78(1) of the 1992 Constitution.
The ministerial nominees are Mr Mahama Ayariga, Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central, for appointment as Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, and Dr Zanetor Agyemang-Rawlings, MP for Korley Klottey, as Minister of Environment, Science and Technology.
The Supreme Court nominees are Justice Sophia Rosetta Oduokuwa Bernasko Essah, Justice Edward Amoako Asante and Mr Anthony Forson Jnr.
The approvals followed the adoption of the report of Parliament’s Appointments Committee on the vetting of the five nominees.
The report was presented to the House by the Chairman of the Committee and MP for Akatsi South, Mr Bernard Ahiafor.
Contributing to the report on the two ministerial nominees, Mr James Agalga, MP for Builsa North, and Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh, Minority Chief Whip, said Mr Ayariga and Dr Agyemang-Rawlings had demonstrated the competence required to address challenges confronting their respective ministries.
Following their approval, the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, pledged the support of the House to enable the nominees to deliver on their mandates.
“You are going to wear additional hats and that is not going to be easy. You have to combine your role as MPs, ministers of state and also what you are leaving behind here, you have to carry that along,” he said.
“We are all available to support to make sure that you deliver on your mandates.”
However, the adoption of the report on the three Supreme Court nominees was contested by the Ranking Member of the Appointments Committee, Mr Alexander Afenyo-Markin.
Mr Afenyo-Markin argued that the report did not bear his signature or reflect the views of the Minority.
He said the Committee’s draft report should have been made available to both the Chairperson and Ranking Member to ensure that their respective views were captured.
According to him, Minority members had tendered the verbatim report of the vetting, which he relied on in raising a preliminary objection, but the concerns were not reflected in the final report.
Mr Ahiafor dismissed the claim, saying all issues raised by Mr Afenyo-Markin had been captured on pages two to 13 of the report.
He further said Mr Afenyo-Markin failed to tender any verbatim report or document to the Committee and that none of the Minority members was present when the Committee took a decision on the report, despite attempts to reach them.
In addressing the concerns, Mr Bagbin cautioned MPs against involving Parliamentary Service staff in disagreements among members, stressing that the staff remained non-partisan.
