Member of Parliament for Asutifi South, Collins Dauda, has advised future vetting committees in Parliament to avoid shifting the focus of vetting procedures to matters beyond their intended purpose.
The MP made this observation during his testimony before the probing committee when asked to suggest ways to improve the regulation of vetting procedures for ministerial nominees. “Ministers come before the appointments committee for vetting. But sometimes, if you watch, the proceedings move away from vetting to inquisition. It becomes inquisitorial,” he stated, citing his observations of vetting sessions.
Alhaji Dauda explained that vetting committees are established to assess the competence of nominees selected by the President for ministerial roles.
However, he criticized the recently concluded ministerial nominee vetting process, stating that it failed to achieve its primary objective. “After subject matter committees ask one or two questions, they spend, let’s say, five to ten minutes maximum. Meanwhile, questions unrelated to the nominee’s designated area take three hours,” he lamented.
He urged Parliament to address these shortcomings by setting clear ground rules for future vetting procedures. “For me, it should not be encouraged, but if you don’t lay the rules well, there will be abuses. My view is that the ground rules must be set clearly, parameters determined, and that way we will have proper vetting,” he said.
