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The 7th Parliament’s Vetting Committee has lifted the status quo - Lecturer

By Clement Edward Kumsah
lecturer_yaw_oppong
Yaw Oppong
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Private legal practitioner and lecturer at the Central University College, Yaw Oppong has stated that the Appointments Committee of the current Parliament under Fourth Republic vetting ministerial nominees of President Nana Akufo-Addo has lifted the standard of vetting as compared to previous ones.

Speaking today on TV3’s New Day programme, he added that the eminence of questions posed to the first batch of nominees during the vetting yesterday was appropriate and analytical enough which aided in bringing to bear the level of knowledge of appointees in their respective portfolio.

“First of all, we must commend parliament, especially members of the committee. To sit down and ask questions and probe from morning to evening, I think they must be really commended.

“I think they raised the bar yesterday. The few vettings I have witnessed, I think this particular one – that is, both the majority and minority sides to a large extent – showed that they were really not up to applying their political biases but they asked relevant questions. I think those who were invited, most of them should be grateful for this opportunity that was given to them by parliament.

“For example in the case of Osafo Maafo, regarding the clarification of the CNTCI loan agreement, this issue had come up over and over again and people have used it in a way to cast a slur on his reputation. For the first time I heard what appeared to me to be a more satisfactory answer than the previous explanation", he added.

“And also the issue of Macmillan, that was the first time I heard an explanation on that and I think, to a large extent, it cleared the air.”

The Appointment Committee yesterday Friday January 20 2017, vetted Senior Minister-nominee Yaw Osafo Maafo; National Security Minister-designate,  Albert Kan-Dapaah; Finance Minister-nominee, Ken Ofori-Atta; and Defence Minister-designate, Dominic Nitiwul. 

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