Political Scientist, Dr. Isaac Brako, has opined that Members of Parliament (MPs) belonging to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) approved some ministers for the interest of the nation.
According to him, these MPs were faced with either succumbing to party expectations or national expectations and they chose to heed to the latter.
Speaking in an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, he explained that some criteria for which ministers were asked to be rejected were in no way aligned to the qualifications set out in the Constitution.
“The party members did what is right because the constitution speaking on the qualifications of a minister, outlines clearly who becomes a minister.
The question we should ask is, what caused these MPs to make these decisions. Was it right for them to do what they did? When you look at the qualifications outlined by the Constitution for who occupies for the position of a minister, I believe someone’s inability to define aquaculture does not come into play. All who are asked to occupy ministerial positions leave their old form of work to serve the country. So, you can expect to always have novices and these can be assigned into any portfolio. It is not adequate knowledge in the ministry that makes you a very good minister. Opoku Prempeh was a medical doctor but he was able to serve excellently as an education minister.
If someone is arrogant, the Constitution never said it is a ground for rejection. We must understand that things are changing and we are going through massive transformation”.
He added that in any case, the appointment committee had no power to reject ministers. Rather, their mandate was to recommend these ministers to the house based on the vetting process. He furthered that the MPs voting on the approval of the ministers then means that they represented the people of Ghana to select the ministers for the country.
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
