{"id":292584,"date":"2017-02-10T06:00:01","date_gmt":"2017-02-10T06:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=292584"},"modified":"2017-02-10T06:00:01","modified_gmt":"2017-02-10T06:00:01","slug":"parliament-completes-vetting-of-sector-ministers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=292584","title":{"rendered":"Parliament completes vetting of sector ministers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Parliament on Thursday completed the vetting of ministers, with the vetting of the minister nominees for the Fisheries and Aquaculture and Information portfolios.<\/p>\n<p>25 of the ministers vetted out of the 36, have already been sworn in, though one of the ministers, Otiko Djaba, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, <span style=\"color: #666699;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #666699;\" href=\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/02\/09\/two-ndc-mps-sue-otiko-over-her-appointment\/\">has been sued<\/a><\/strong><\/span> by two Minority MPs following her approval by parliament.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_292373\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-292373\" style=\"width: 960px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Otiko-sworn-in.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-292373\" src=\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Otiko-sworn-in.jpg\" alt=\"Otiko Djaba being sworn in as Gender Minister\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-292373\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Otiko Djaba being sworn in as Gender Minister<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Two NDC MPs, MP for Ashaiman, Ernest Norgbey, and the MP for Juaboso, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, filed a writ at the Supreme Court to revoke the appointment of Madam Djaba praying the court to nullify her nomination\u00a0and swearing-in due to her failure to undertake the mandatory national service.<\/p>\n<p>The Minority in Parliament had kicked against and <span style=\"color: #666699;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #666699;\" href=\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/02\/07\/minority-abstains-from-voting-on-otikos-approval\/\">subsequently boycotted<\/a><\/strong><\/span> her approval in Parliament.<\/p>\n<p>Another Minister nominee, Catherine Afeku may face <span style=\"color: #666699;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #666699;\" href=\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/02\/09\/afeku-broke-nss-law-she-must-not-be-approved-a-b-a-fuseini\/\">similar problems<\/a><\/strong><\/span> following her admission she too did not undertake the mandatory national service.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_291631\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-291631\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Tourism-Miniser-Vetting-7.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-291631\" src=\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Tourism-Miniser-Vetting-7.jpg\" alt=\"Catherine Afeku\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-291631\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Catherine Afeku<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Bribery scandal<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The vetting committee was also rocked by a bribery scandal after some allegations made by some members of the Minority Caucus on the Appointments Committee.<\/p>\n<p>A Minority member of the Committee, Mahama Ayariga, <span style=\"color: #666699;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #666699;\" href=\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/01\/27\/ayariga-accuses-agyarko-of-bribing-minority-members-to-get-approval\/\">alleged that<\/a><\/strong><\/span> the Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko, attempted to bribe the Minority members to secure approval of his nomination.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Agyarko-Ayariga.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-288920\" src=\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Agyarko-Ayariga.jpg\" alt=\"agyarko-ayariga\" width=\"803\" height=\"535\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mr. Ayariga said Mr.\u00a0Agyarko tried bribing\u00a0<span style=\"color: #666699;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #666699;\" href=\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/01\/27\/ayariga-accuses-agyarko-of-bribing-minority-members-to-get-approval\/\">10 Minority members<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0on the Committee with GHc 3,000 each.<\/p>\n<p>The Railways Development Minister, also former Attorney-General, Joe Ghartey, has been tasked to lead <span style=\"color: #666699;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #666699;\" href=\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/01\/31\/joe-ghartey-leads-5-member-committee-to-probe-bribery-claims\/\">a five-member committee<\/a><\/strong><\/span> approved by Parliament, to investigate the bribery scandal.<\/p>\n<p>The committee was given 30 days to come out with its findings.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Find below the list of ministers vetted<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ministers approved and sworn-in<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo<\/p>\n<p>Minister of Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh<\/p>\n<p>Minister of Interior, Ambrose Dery<\/p>\n<p>Minister for National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah<\/p>\n<p>Minister for Railway Development, Joe Ghartey<\/p>\n<p>Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation, Anthony Akoto Osei<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Swearing-in-ceremony-of-second-batch-of-Ministers.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-292078\" src=\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Swearing-in-ceremony-of-second-batch-of-Ministers-1024x665.jpg\" alt=\"swearing-in-ceremony-of-second-batch-of-ministers\" width=\"914\" height=\"594\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Minister for Planning, George Yaw Gyan-Baffour<\/p>\n<p>Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama<\/p>\n<p>Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Otiko Afisa Djaba<\/p>\n<p>Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, Boakye Agyarko<\/p>\n<p>Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta<\/p>\n<p>Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen<\/p>\n<p>Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul<\/p>\n<p>Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwesi Amoako Atta<\/p>\n<p>Minister of Communication, Ursula Owusu Ekuful<\/p>\n<p>Minister of Health, \u00a0Kwaku Agyeman Manu<\/p>\n<p>Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto<\/p>\n<p>Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Gloria Afua Akuffo<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Ministers-sworn-in-2-620x330.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-292593\" src=\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Ministers-sworn-in-2-620x330.jpg\" alt=\"ministers-sworn-in-2-620x330\" width=\"911\" height=\"485\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Samuel Atta Akyea<\/p>\n<p>Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Joseph Kofi Adda<\/p>\n<p>Minister for Regional Reorganization and Development, Dan Kweku Botwe<\/p>\n<p>Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu<\/p>\n<p>Minister of Transport, Kweku Ofori Asiamah<\/p>\n<p>Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, Ignatius Bafuor Awuah<\/p>\n<p>Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ministers awaiting approval<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu<\/p>\n<p>Minister for Special Development Initiative, Mavis Hawa Koomson<\/p>\n<p>Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Elizabeth Afoley Quaye<\/p>\n<p>Minister of Inner cities and Zongo Development, Abubakar Boniface Siddique<\/p>\n<p>Minister of Business Development, Ibrahim Mohammed Awal<\/p>\n<p>Minister for Information, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid<\/p>\n<p>Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Kofi Dzamesi<\/p>\n<p>Minister of Aviation, Cecelia Dapaah<\/p>\n<p>Minister of Youth and Sports, Isaac Asiamah<\/p>\n<p>Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Catherine Ablema Afeku<\/p>\n<p>Minister for Planning, Professor Gyan Baffour<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>By: Delali Adogla-Bessa\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Parliament on Thursday completed the vetting of ministers, with the vetting of the minister nominees for the Fisheries and Aquaculture and Information portfolios. 25 of the ministers vetted out of the 36, have already been sworn in, though one of the ministers, Otiko Djaba, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, has been sued by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,11],"tags":[364,3,3247,1452],"class_list":["post-292584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-top-stories","tag-catherine-afeku","tag-ghana-news","tag-ministerial-vetting","tag-otiko-djaba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=292584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292584\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=292584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=292584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=292584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}