Approval of 4 deputy ministers was constitutional despite minority’s boycott

Former chair of Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs of Parliament Committee in the 7th Parliament, Ben Abdallah Banda, says the approval of the four deputy minister nominees holds even though the Minority raised questions over the vetting processes.

He explained that although the Minority staged a boycott over the approval of nominees, the NPP MPs present during proceedings was constitutionally enough to approve the nominees.

The Minority had demanded that some four deputy minister nominees be vetted again.

According to them, it was unfair to the Minority for the Appointments Committee to sideline them by proceeding with the vetting of the four nominees, even though the Speaker of Parliament had ruled that such an activity should not be held on the occasion of Green Ghana Day.

The nominees in question are the Deputy Attorney General, Diana Asonaba Dapaah; the Deputy Local Government Minister, Martin Adjei Mensah Korsah; the Deputy Sanitation Minister, Amidu Chinia, and the Deputy Gender Minister, Zuweira Abudu.

But Mr. Banda says the exercise was conducted the whole day, and the Minority MPs could have joined their colleagues in vetting the four nominees.

To him, it was strange that the MPs who are members from Accra and closer could not return to the Committee for their work.

The former Offinso South MP deduced that the Minority could have planned to intentionally boycott the vetting for their political mischief.

He stressed, irrespective of the action by the Minority, the four deputy minister nominees have been constitutionally and legally approved by Parliament.