Parliament: NDC MPs Boycott Vetting of Herbert Krapah as Minister of State at Energy Ministry

The Minority in Parliament has boycotted the vetting of Herbert Krapah as the Minister of State at the Energy Ministry. The Minority Caucus has accused the Majority side of attempting to “short circuit and circumvent due process” required in the vetting of the President’s nominee.

In a press statement signed by the Deputy Minority Leader, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the group noted that a long-standing parliamentary practice requires that persons nominated for appointment by the President be published in a national newspaper to allow the public to submit memoranda or make representations to the Appointments Committee.

However, these requirements have been totally breached in this case, according to the Minority.

The group expressed concerns about the “indecent haste” with which the Majority is pushing for the vetting, particularly as there is an existing Minister of Energy and the nominee is already a Deputy Minister.

The Minority has served notice that it will not participate in any “hasty process deliberately designed by the Majority to deny the people of Ghana participation in the work of the Appointments Committee and Ghana’s democracy.”

Consistent with its earlier position, the Minority Caucus has also stated that it will not support the nomination for the Minister of State at the Energy Ministry, citing the country’s “crippling economic crisis, food insecurity, debt default, corruption, state capture, and wasteful expenditures.”

The Minority has once again called on President Akufo-Addo to downsize his government, arguing that “while the government asks the people to tighten their belt, those in government should have no belt at all.”

Source: GhanaNewsonline.com.gh