House gives approval to ministerial nominations

Centre Spread, Feb 19, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
PARLIAMENT yesterday gave its approval to seven people nominated by the President for ministerial and deputy ministerial positions.
The House gave its approval when members unanimously endorsed the 17th Report of the Appointments Committee of the President’s nominations for ministerial and deputy ministerial appointments.
Those whose nominations were endorsed by the House were Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, Minister of Employment and Social Welfare designate; Mr Martin Amidu, Minister of the Interior designate; Mr John Akologu Tia, Minister of Information designate, and Mr Alban S.K. Bagbin, Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing designate.
The rest are Mr John Gyetuah, Minister of State designate for the Presidency; Mr Moses Mabengba, Northern Regional Minister designate, and Mr Inusah Abdulai Fuseini, Deputy Minister of Energy designate.
The Chairman of the Appointments Committee, who is also the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, however, explained that the nominee designate for Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Mahama Ayariga, would be considered in a separate report to be submitted to the House in due course.
He explained that the committee was satisfied that the nominees had fully met requirements of the Constitution and, therefore, recommended their nomination to the House for approval.
Contributing to the debate before the approval, the Member of Parliament for Sekondi, Papa Owusu-Ankomah, congratulated the nominees on their new positions and expressed the hope that they would bring their experience to bear on the governance of the country.
He said he expected Mr Bagbin in particular to deliver by introducing bold decisions to solve the perennial water problem that cropped up in some parts of the country from time to time.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah expressed the displeasure of the people of the Western Region at the fact that nobody from that part of the country was currently in the Cabinet of the President.
His assertion, which was reiterated by the MP for Essikado/Ketan, Mr Joe Ghartey, was, however, disputed by the MP for Mfantseman East, Mr George Kuntu-Blankson, who stated that the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, hailed from the Western Region.
The Minister of Communications and MP for Tamale South, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, said the appointment of the new ministers would add new impetus to the governance of the country and help the President to achieve his ‘better Ghana’ agenda.
He noted that although the government was doing a lot, its achievements had not been properly communicated to the people and expressed the hope that the incoming Minister of Information would be able to communicate the achievements of the government to the people.
When he caught the eye of the Speaker, a former Minister of Information and NPP MP for Okere, Mr Dan Botwe, said the perception by the Executive that the ministry should be a propaganda wing of the government was wrong.
He noted that it was because of such perception that ministers appointed to the ministry did not stay there for longer periods.
Mr Botwe said while he was going through the profiles of ministers of Information over the years, it came to his notice that some even lasted for only one month and attributed that high attrition rate to the perception that the ministry was a propaganda tool and that a minister who did not ascribe to that perception got the sack.
He appealed to the government to properly equip agencies under the ministry, such as the Ghana News Agency and the Information Services Department (ISD), to enable them to properly disseminate government’s information and collect feedback from the people for the government.
The MP for Zebilla, Mr Cletus Avoka, commended the Appointments Committee for a good work done and noted that the nominees were qualified to be appointed as ministers to assist the government to achieve its objectives.
For his part, the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, commended the nominees for their appointment and expressed the hope that they would use their experience in the House to contribute to the achievement of the government’s set targets.