Subjecting Appointment Committee Clerk to public humiliation was inappropriate — Speaker tells Minority

Speaker of Parliament Alban Sumana Bagbin has condemned the Minority Caucus for publicly attacking the Appointments Committee Clerk, Gifty Jiagge-Gobah, over her alleged bias and mistreatment.

Leader of the caucus Alexander Afenyo-Markin has been accusing the Clerk of favouring the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and disregarding the Minority Caucus during the vetting process.

“The committee clerk is on a partisan track. Indeed, she is a typical NDC. She agrees with them and then advertises and informs people to come,” he claimed in an interview.

He further explained, “The practice has always been that the chairman and ranking member agree on who appears before the committee. Yesterday, there was no agreement. The chairman was with me—no meeting. Then, at 10 p.m., the clerk advertised for 10 a.m. this morning.”

The Effutu MP alleged that the clerk’s actions were part of a strategy by the Majority to push through more nominees than had been agreed upon.

“Today, we agreed to vet three nominees. My deputy was present. They had a pre-sitting and agreed on three. Later in the afternoon, they said four. Then again, they said, ‘Oh, let’s compromise on one more.’

“We said okay, and they made it five. Just as we finished with the three, we realized they had paraded several other nominees, thinking we would boycott. We will not boycott,” he declared.

Addressing the matter on the floor of Parliament, Speaker Bagbin said the duty of the clerk is to report to the chairman of the committee, indicating that she should not be held responsible for disputes between committee members.

He further praised Gifty Jiagge-Gobah for her dedication, describing her as one of the best clerks in Parliament.

“The clerk to the Appointments Committee is a public servant and should not be dragged into the failure of the committee members to resolve their differences. This clerk has worked with us for 19 years, and she’s one of the best we have had,” he said.