Vicky Bright approved as deputy minister

Page 14, Feb 9, 2008

Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
PARLIAMENT gave approval for the nomination of Ms Victoria Bright as a Deputy Minister at the Office of the President yesterday.
The House approved her nomination by consensus on the recommendation of the Appointments Committee in its 14th Report on the President’s Nomination for Deputy Ministerial Appointment.
That was, however, done after a lengthy debate about the need for an amendment of the portion of the Constitution that gave the President limitless power to appoint the number of ministers he deemed fit to run the country.
The Chairman of the Appointments Committee of Parliament, Mr Freddie Blay, who presented the report of the committee, recalled that the nomination of Ms Bright was communicated to Parliament for prior approval on July 18, 2007 and referred to the committee for consideration and report.
However on July 30, 2007, the House deferred its decision on the nominee for further checks on her, he stated.
Mr Blay said on November 29, 2007, the committee withheld its report on the nominee in order to enable further work to be done on certain aspects of her testimony when she appeared before it.
“The committee has completed its work on the nominee and hereby submits its report to the House in accordance with order 172 of the Standing Orders.”
Mr Blay explained that the committee had satisfied itself that the nominee had renounced her British citizenship in accordance with the British Nationality Act.
“The committee is of the view that Ms Victoria Bright is qualified under the Constitution and Standing Orders of the House to be appointed as a Deputy Minister at the Office of the President,” he said.
Contributing to the debate on the number of ministers, some Members of Parliament called for the amendment of Article 78 (2) of the Constitution to limit the number of ministerial appointments that can be made by a president.
They argued that the country’s weak economy could not support the large sizes of ministerial appointments that had characterised governments under the Fourth Republic.
Article 78 (2) of the constitution states that “the President shall appoint such number of ministers of state as may be necessary for the efficient running of the state”.
The MP for Tamale South, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, argued that with the approval of Ms Bright, the number of cabinet and non-cabinet ministers, ministers of state, regional ministers and deputy minister now stood at 85.
“This is highly unacceptable for a nation with such a weak economy,” Mr Iddrisu stated.
He reminded the House that though it was the constitutional duty of the President to appoint any number of ministers that he deemed fit, such appointments were a shared responsibility.
Mr Iddrisu buttressed his argument by referring to Article 78 (1) of the Constitution, which mandated Parliament to give prior approval to appointments made by the President.
He, therefore, urged the House to pass a resolution to compel the current and future presidents to run smaller governments that the economy could accommodate.
When the Majority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, caught the eye of the Speaker, he argued that though he supported the call for a ceiling on the number of ministers to be appointed by a president, the House could not use a resolution to do so.
The Deputy Attorney-General and MP for Nsuta/Kwamang, Mr Kwame Osei-Prempeh, said it was unfortunate that MPs from the Minority side were criticising the government for appointing 85 ministers while the NDC government appointed 88 ministers.
For his part, the Minority Chief Whip, Mr John A. Tia, said it was now clear that presidents should not be given limitless powers for ministerial appointments and called for the review of Article 78 (2).