This follows a boycott by the minority side of the house on Tuesday [February 7, 2017], when it sat to consider the 4th report of the Appointments Committee.

152 Members of Parliament voted “YES” in favour of the approval of Madam Otiko while there were 0 “NO” votes.

The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, in an earlier submission, said it stands against Otiko Djaba’s approval nomination over her posturing when she appeared before the committee for vetting.

The nominee was queried by some of the Minority members on the panel for describing the former president as “wicked, evil and someone with a heart of the devil,” but she said she still stood by those words and will not apologize for them.

He also expressed concerns that Otiko Djaba had not undertaken her one-year mandatory national service because she had traveled out of the country.

But speaking on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, the majority leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu said Otiko Djaba, following her vetting, secured an exemption from the National Service Scheme.

According to him, the waiver on her National Service makes her eligible to be employed in any institution in the country, as required by the National Service Act 426.

Frimpong-Boateng, Ursula Owusu, 4 others approved

Prior to the voting on Otiko Djaba’s approval, Parliament earlier approved the nomination of six (6) more ministerial nominees to serve in the Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.

The House, at its sitting, agreed by consensus to approve the Appointments Committee’s recommendation for the approval of all the six nominees.

The nominees are Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng (Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation), Ursula Owusu-Ekuful (Minister for Communications), Joe Ghartey (Minister for Railways Development), and Joseph Kofi Adda (Minister for Sanitation and Water resources). The others are Kweku Ofori Asiamah (Minister for Transport) and Kwesi Amoako Atta (Minister for Roads and Highways).

This brings to total, 32, the number of ministerial nominees approved by Parliament out of the 36 nominated by President, Akufo-Addo. The Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Tamale South Constituency, Haruna Iddrisu, in his submission on the floor of Parliament during the consideration of the Committee’s report, said he believed that those who had been approved possessed the competence to promote development in their respective ministries.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The latest to be approved are Senior Minister Nominee; Osafo Maafo , Energy Minister Nominee; Boakye Agyarko, Education Minister Nominee; Matthew Opoku Prempeh,Minister Nominee for Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu and Owusu Afriyie Akoto, Minister Nominee for Agriculture.

Why Minority resisted Agyarko, Osafo Maafo’s approval

The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, had earlier explained that, they needed some “additional information” on statements Osafo Maafo and Boakye Agyarko both made before the Committee during the vetting.

He said Mr. Agyarko provided some “inaccurate” information relating to the “debt associated with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Volta River Authority (VRA).”

But Citi News’ Duke Mensah Opoku reported that Agyarko subsequently withdrew some of his comments, prompting the committee to approve him by consensus.

He added that Mr. Osafo Maafo however stood by his comments but provided additional information to support his claim and was therefore recommended for approval by consensus.

Ayariga accuses Agyarko of bribery

Their approval came hours after a member of the Minority in Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, accused Boakye Agyarko of attempting to bribe them, ostensibly to have his nomination approved.

Speaking on Accra based Radio Gold, a member of the Appointment’s Committee, Mahama Ayariga, who made the allegation, said Mr. Agyarko attempted bribing them with 3,000 cedis .

The Bawku Central Legislator believes the money was specifically intended to influence the minority to approve Agyarko’s nomination.

“This [Friday] morning, we had a meeting and during the meeting, we raised the issue with our Chief Whip and asked him what was the source of the money and he said he was going to check from the Chairman because he had also assumed that it was the sitting allowance that he had given him to give to us. So he raised the issue this morning again and he said he had met with the Chairman, and the Chairman had said it was from Boakye Agyarko, who is a nominee. So we as Minority said we were not interested in the money. He should take the money and then return it to the Chairman to give it back to Agyarko. So we gave the money back to our Chief Whip and asked him to send it back to give it to Mr. Agyarko.”

Asked what for what purpose he believes the money was given, Mr. Ayariga said that, “The only logical conclusion one could arrive at is that, this is money intended to influence especially when we had withheld his approval based on certain grounds; so we took a decision that we are not taking anything from anybody. We will take our normal sitting allowances as a committee, and so our leader should be mindful anytime the Chairman brings any money.”

But the Chairman of the Committee, Joe Osei-Wusu, has denied playing any role in the alleged bribery, and has vowed to take up the matter at the appropriate quarters.
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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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