Member of Parliament for Mion Constituency Dr Yakubu Ahmed Alhassan, who is also a member of the Appointments Committee of Parliament, says it is quite unjustifiable for any member of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) to criticize the process of vetting of ministerial nominees of President John Dramani Mahama.
He was speaking at the backdrop of criticisms from some NPP members and some senior journalists that questioning during the first two days of vetting was skewed to favour the ministerial nominees and the seven vetted were treated with kids’ gloves.
Dr Alhassan did not mince words by saying that any lapses in the vetting process should be blamed on the NPP.
“NPP will have to take the blame for whatever lapses in the vetting of the ministers-designate,” he said on TV3’s Headlines on Saturday, January 26, 2013.
According to him, all questions that needed to be asked were exhausted by members of the Committee.
“All the critical questions in all the sectors were raised,” he noted.
Earlier on the programme, Deputy Minority Leader Dominic Nitiwul had been asked by host Henry Herbert Malm of his assessment of the vetting process.
“If you are not careful and you think you can form your own questions, you may deceive yourself,” Mr Nitiwul answered.
He explained that the Majority members of the Appointments Committee largely gave the impression that the nominees “will be there”.
“It makes it look like it’s going to be a rubber stamp,” he said of the process.
The MP for Bimbilla indicated that by citing their constituencies while asking questions, the MPs failed to exercise the core mandate of vetting the nominees but rather thinking of what the nominees will do after they assume office.
He, however, conceded that the members are in a tight corner because they are of the same party.
“There’s added pressure on the Committee because they are members of the same party,” he pointed out.
Dr Alhassan, however, disagreed with him saying that the nominees that appeared – Seth Terkper, Hannah Serwaa Tetteh, Alhaji Collins Dauda, Alhaji Amin Amidu Sulemani, Clement Kofi Humado, Alhaji A. B. Inusah Fuseini and Mahama Ayariga – are vested in the process since they were making re-appearances.
“So they may be better prepared,” he added.
He noted that apart from Seth Terkper, the Finance Minister-designate, those vetted were MPs, who were familiar with most members of the Committee.
He said even that did not even stop some of the members from being strict in questioning, citing that he, for example, served Clement Kofi Humado, Minister-designate for Agriculture, notice that he was going to be hard irrespective of the fact that he (Dr Alhassan) served as Chairman of the Agric Committee while Clement Humado was his deputy in the Fifth Parliament.
He admitted, however, that the Minority’s absence has taken a marginal toll on the process.
“The absence of the Minority made us lose some dimension to the Committee but not the content,” he stressed.
Mr Nitiwul in a final submission advised some of the members of the Committee to do “a little more research”.
He said they can go to directors of ministries, think-tanks, constituents and former ministers, for example, to help them get questions to vet nominees.
Source: 3news.com|Ghana