Committee investigating vetting chaos to resume hearing today

The Parliamentary ad-hoc committee investigating the vetting chaos that transpired at the Appointments Committee will resume its public hearing today.

This comes after the abrupt suspension of proceedings during its public hearing on Wednesday at Parliament House, Accra.

Addressing the Parliamentary Press Corps on yesterday, Mr Em­manuel Kwasi Bedzrah, Chairman of the committee, said the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin, had directed the committee to con­tinue its work.

“The Speaker has given us a 10- day ultimatum to finish our work. We will resume at 10:00 hours (10 a.m.) at the Committee Room 1 and 2 in Parliament House to con­tinue our work,” the chairman said.

The Committee’s hearing was initially suspended due to an alleged directive from the Clerk to Parliament, which was later clari­fied as not having been authorised by the Speaker.

Mr Bedzrah confirmed that the Speaker had now given the green light for the Committee to proceed with its investigation.

Confusion rocked Parliament’s Appointments Committee sitting on the night of last Thursday, when members of the Minority and Majority caucuses clashed over the vetting of Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, Minister of Health– designate and Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, designated for Foreign Affairs.

The disagreement began after 11 p.m. when the vetting of the nominee for Transport, Mr Joseph Bukari Nikpe, had been concluded.

The Majority Caucus decided to vet two more ministerial nominees that night after having already vetted five others.

The Minority group on the Committee, however, proposed rescheduling the vetting to the next day, explaining “it is too late.”

The Majority rejected that sug­gestion, insisting that the vetting should continue as scheduled.

It accused the Minority Leader, Mr Alexander Afenyo Markin (Ranking Member on the Com­mittee), of spending more time on nominees, hence the delay.

The situation escalated into cha­os, disrupting the session as tables were broken and microphones destroyed in a tussle between some committee members.

In a reaction, the Majority Leader, Mr Mahama Ayariga, intervened and apologised for the unfortunate incident, and asked for the postponement of the vetting, to Friday.

The clash between the two caucuses brought the Committee’s work to a standstill, with both sides refusing to back down from their positions.

Earlier on Thursday morning, the two sides had reached an agreement to vet three nominees, but the Majority later attempted to push for additional nominees with­out proper consensus, hence the disruption in the vetting process.

Mr Bagbin in his formal com­munication to MPs on the Floor of the House on Friday, suspended four MPs involved in the clashes for two weeks.

The suspended MPs, includ­ing the Majority Chief Whip, Mr Rockson-Nelson Este Dafeame­kpor, and the Minority Chief Whip, Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh, were barred from participating in parliamentary sittings and activities during this period.

A seven-member committee, chaired by Mr Bedzrah, the NDC MP for Ho West, was established by the Speaker to investigate the incident. -GNA