Vetting fiasco

Frontpage, Monday Feb 9, 2009
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah, Charles Benoni Okine and Daniel Nkrumah
THE Appointments Committee of Parliament last Saturday suspended the vetting of five ministerial nominees after hours of closed-door deliberations among members of the committee.
Although the Chairman of the committee, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, failed to disclose the real issues that held up the process, which had been expected to start at 10 a.m., sources indicated that there had been some disagreements over the documentation of some of the nominees.
“We have been negotiating throughout the whole day to build a certain consensus to do our work to ensure that nominees meet the test when they appear before the committee,” he told the media when the committee members finally appeared in the Speaker’s Conference Room about 2 p.m.
“It has been a difficult decision,” he added, without elaborating on what the considerations were.
A visibly exhausted Mr Adjaho said as a result, the committee had decided to add one more nominee, Mr Mike Hammah, the minister designate for Transportation, to the list of five to be vetted today in order to clear the backlog.
Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni for the Foreign Ministry; Ms Sherry Ayittey Environment for Science and Technology; Alhaji Collins Dauda for Lands and Natural Resources; Mr Joe Gidisu for Roads and Highways and Dr Joe Oteng Adjei for Energy were scheduled to appear before the committee but in the end they had no option but to go back and return today, as announced by Mr Adjaho as the new date for the vetting of the five nominees.
“The situation is very disappointing. Some of the sympathisers of the nominees had travelled from far and near and the nominees had high hopes of being vetted,” Mr Gidisu told journalists minutes after the chairman’s announcement.
A calm Ms Ayittey found the spirit to reassure her sympathisers and the Daily Graphic, “That is democracy at play. We need to be accommodating. I am very sure that by the weekend the issues would have been sorted out well.”
Although the chairman of the committee had expressed optimism about the committee vetting the five nominees on Monday, most committee members interviewed appeared evasive about the issues and told journalists to stick to what the chairman had said.
The reaction of Alhaji Mumuni virtually confirmed earlier speculations that the hold was as a result of some members of the committee calling on the President to withdraw the nomination of the Foreign Affairs Minister designate because he had serious questions to answer in court.
Alhaji Mumuni told journalists that he sensed some vilification in the actions of his former colleagues in Parliament.
Spotting an all-white kaftan, Alhaji Mumuni said he was prepared to answer any queries when he appeared before the committee today.
There was also speculation about the fact that the leadership of the committee had left the House for a meeting with President Mills over the withdrawal of Mr Moses Asaga but one source told the Daily Graphic that Mr Asaga’s withdrawal was not the cause of the suspension of the vetting process, stressing that the issue of Mr Asaga’s withdrawal was purely an executive decision and not something for the committee.
The unanswered questions and speculations surrounding the nominees that may have caused the suspension of the vetting are expected to make today’s vetting process more exciting and interesting.