Ghanaian Economist and Columnist, Isaac ‘Opeele’ Boateng has said that Members of Parliament (MPs) belonging to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) must be praised for voting massively for Hawa Koomson.
The Minister-Designate for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Hawa Koomson, secured approval by a majority vote on the floor of the house after reports from the Appointment Committee indicated that she was not fit for the job. However, she secured the highest number of votes as she polled 161 votes of 265 total votes translating into 60.75% of the total votes cast.
Coach Opeele reacting to this happening told Happy FM’s Don Prah on the ‘Epa Hoa Daben’ show: “NDC MPs who voted for Hawa Koomson must be commended. I am sure that they will recall that some of their sisters and mothers cannot express themselves in the English Language. So, if Hawa Koomson cannot express herself, why then will she be disqualified?
The NDC MPs who voted for her and gave her the highest votes have done really well. They have thought of Ghana. If some have even thought of the rights of LGBTQ group, then this woman also has the right to become a minister. We can’t say we are using ‘What is fish farming’ to disqualify her. She even did well with her answer. She just needed to add some few words. She just can’t express herself in English and I don’t think that should be a basis for her disqualification”.
He furthered that the argument that Hawa Koomson is not fit for the job because she lacks technical-knowhow is actually flawed. Citing the performances of previous Ministers of Fisheries who presumably had the technical knowhow, he noted that even these ones could not do much to improve the Fisheries’ sector contribution to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“Let’s allow her to work in the ministry first before we can assess her performance”, he added.
Parliament by a majority decision and consensus approved the nomination of 13 ministerial nominees of President Nana Akufo-Addo. Ten of these ministers were approved by consensus while three, namely, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, minister-designate for Information; Hawa Koomson, minister-designate for Fisheries and Aquaculture and Owusu Afriyie Akoto, minister-designate for Food and Agriculture were approved by a majority vote on the floor of the house.
Meanwhile, the National Communication Director of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi has expressed his disappointment in the Speaker of Parliament and NDC MPs in parliament as he states that the NDC leadership in parliament has been disloyal to the party after the MPs approved the ministerial nominees of President Akufo-Addo.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah
