The Appointments Committee of Parliament is expected to commence vetting of President Akufo-Addo’s ministerial nominees from today, February 10, 2021.
The first nominee to appear before the committee is the Health Minister-designate Kwaku Agyemang Manu who is expected to be approved as quickly as possible due to the exigencies of the Covid-19 pandemic ravaging the country.
“The Appointments Committee has met, and we are requesting for public memoranda in respect of all the president’s nominees for all the ministerial positions. We are expected to commence vetting on the 10th of February. Priority will be given to some ministers, in particular, Health because of the COVID situation in the country, and probably he will be the first minister to be considered by our committee followed by those other ministers of National Security and Finance. Our clerk is working to get the publication to all the media houses,” the Ranking Member of the Committee, Haruna Iddrisu has said.
At least some 46 persons have been nominated to fill various ministerial portfolios including regional ministers in President Nana Akufo-Addo’s second term of office.
Appointment Committee’s sitting will not exceed 2 hours per nominee. Nominees have also been barred from bringing their relatives and friends to the house.
Meanwhile, Ghana’s Parliament has suspended sitting for three weeks due to the increasing number of Covid-19 cases among lawmakers and Parliamentary staff.
Members of the 8th Parliament of the fourth republic are expected to self-isolate within three weeks, undergo another covid-19 test before allowed to sit in the Chambers if tested negative.
This was announced by the Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon. Aban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin Tuesday evening before the house ended sitting.
Seventeen (17) members of Parliament and over 150 staff have tested positive together with other staff of Parliament during a recent Covid-19 test for MPs and their staff.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah
