Parliament To Vet New Ministers

The Appointments Committee of Parliament is expected to vet new ministers who have been nominated by President John Evans Atta Mills within the week.

The ministerial nominees expected to be vetted are the Majority Leader, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin for the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Mr John Tia, Deputy Majority Leader for the Ministry of Information, and Mr E.T. Mensah, the Majority Chief Whip, who has been nominated for the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare.

Also to be vetted is the running mate of President Mills during the 2000 elections, Mr Martin Amidu who has been nominated to replace Mr Cletus Avoka as Interior Minister.

The rest are Mr John Gyetuah, Deputy Minister of Trade, who has been nominated as a Minister of State at the Presidency, and Mr Mahama Ayariga, Presidential Spokesperson, also nominated as Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry.

The Director of Public Affairs of Parliament, Mr Jones Kugblenu, confirmed this to the Daily Graphic and stated that the notice of the vetting of the ministerial nominees had already been published in the dailies to invite memoranda from the general public.

The public is expected to fill the Speaker’s Conference Room, where the vetting will take place, to witness the vetting of Mr Bagbin in particular.

For more than eight years, Mr Bagbin, then the Minority Leader, caught national attention with his incisive questions for nominees during sittings of the Appointments Committee.

His nomination for the ministerial position caused a stir due to the sterling leadership he provided to the NDC, both as the Minority and Majority Leader.

Both MPs from the Majority and Minority sides expressed worry over why such experienced legislators could be drafted into the executive, saying their absence would create a vacuum in Parliament.

He is among the experienced legislators the country could boast having contested the Nadowli West seat in the Upper West Region and won on every occasion.

For Mr Tia, who is a professional journalist, it is expeted to be a back-to-base affair if his nomination is approved by Parliament.

Mr Tia is one of the MPs who are serving their fifth term in Parliament and it is expected that he would bring his rich experience as a journalist and veteran legislator to bear on the performance of the Information Ministry.

E.T. Mensah is not new to political executive positions as he served as the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive and Minister of Sports during the Rawlings era.

Indeed, the public would be on the lookout to see whether these experienced legislators would be “grilled” as they face their own colleagues or would be treated with kid gloves.