AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO CANNOT ‘THINK FAR’ IN RESPECT OF THE WORK OF THE APPOINTMENTS COMMITTEE?

AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO CANNOT ‘THINK FAR’ IN RESPECT OF THE WORK OF THE APPOINTMENTS COMMITTEE?

Iddi Muhayu-Deen writes…

An Appointment Committee of Parliament that passes somebody like Oti Bless, who does not even know which of his names is his surname, something my junior sister in primary 6 knows. This man was nonetheless, cleared to become a Minister of State.

An appointment committee that passes Muntaka Mubarak, the man who blew some $20,000 of the taxpayers’ money on 'chichinga' and pampers, which earned him the notorious accolade, Muntaka pampers, to become a Minister of State.  

An appointment committee that clears Oti Bless, who is on record to have subjected the whole Chief Justice of the Republic to an avalanche of insult and even accused her of kidnapping the son of ex-president Mahama’s lawyer, Tony Lithur during the famous 2012 election petition with the view to blackmailing him so he would compromise his stance.

An Appointments Committee that passes Fiifi Kwetey, who is on record to have said that Muslims are unfit to rule this country. He again went on to accuse the Kufour government of stealing the entire gold reserve of Ghana. The Committee nonetheless, cleared this man to become a Minister of State. I can go and on and on… The list is endless.

Now, here is the shocker:

Today, this same Appointments Committee is telling us that somebody like Hon. Osafo Marfo is unfit to be a Minister; not because he is incompetent or he has a negative public record but because he ever made a statement, they find, ethnocentric even though he categorically denied the attributions made to him. For the avoidance of doubt, Hon. Osafo Marfo is a former Education Minister, former Youth and Sports Minister, former Finance Minister. In fact, he was ever adjudged the best Finance Minister in Africa.  

Again, the Appointments Committee is telling us that somebody like Mr. Boakye Agyarko, the financial mogul of international repute and former Vice President of the International Bank of New York, New York is unfit to be a Minister of State in Ghana; not because he is incompetent, but because he alleges that the John Mahama government was corrupt. This is in spite of the fact that, every objective follower of the ongoing vetting process would attest to the fact that Agyarko was superlatively outstanding when he took his turn at the committee sitting. 

If these two great men of our land are unfit to be Ministers of State, then who else is fit? Is it the Oti Blesses, or the Fiifi Qweteys, or the Mintah Akandos, or the Sampson Ahi’s, or the Dzifa Attivors, or the Muntaka Mubaraks, or the Felix Kwakyes or who? That is why I keep on saying that our gods are increasingly getting crazy and we must watch that. 

What is even more shocking is that the governing NPP has a significant majority in the Appointments Committee and yet, they sit down and allow the likes of Muntaka Mubarak of 'chichinga' and pampers’ fame and his colleagues in the Minority side to have their way. You don’t need to be politically savvy to know that if the ‘majority members’ on the Committee are waiting to necessarily build consensus before clearing these two appointees, then they may have to wait till the day of judgement. 

Ghana is so polarized that I can say for certain that, it is the wish of the Minority to see the downfall of the Nana Addo government so that Ghanaians would regret voting for CHANGE. This is where I’m quite disappointed in the Majority members on the Committee. Why should they even think that in a democracy, you need everybody to agree on a decision before same can be legitimized? Did every Ghanaian vote for Nana Akufo-Addo before he became President? What is stopping the Chairman of the Appointments Committee for instance, from allowing the members of the Committee to vote on the status of the two nominees so that the majority wins, as has always been the case?

They must realize that the success or otherwise of the Akufo-Addo depends largely on the role these MPs play in the august house. If for nothing at all, I expect them to learn lesson from the downfall of the erstwhile Mahama government and the contribution of the NDC MPs to this unprecedented political fiasco. Hey! But who am I to advise these political gurus on such matters? I guess I have to shut-up because I probably know nothing under the circumstances. 

What I however do know is that Ghanaians are highly expectant of the Akufo-Addo government to deliver the public good. In view of this, the Ghanaian people cannot wait for the President to form his government and get to start work. There are so many problems to be fixed and the sooner these things are done, the better for our country. Ghana must surely work again. The voice of a citizen and not a spectator. 

Assalamu alaikum