2nd Batch Of Ministers Sworn In

From Maxwell Ofori, Jubilee House Accra 12 Ministers have been sworn in by His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo to various portfolios to push forward the agenda of the current government. The said ministers took the oath of a minister, oath of allegiance, and the oath of secrecy. The swearing in, led by the President, followed approval […]

The post 2nd Batch Of Ministers Sworn In appeared first on The Chronicle - Ghana News.

From Maxwell Ofori, Jubilee House Accra

12 Ministers have been sworn in by His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo to various portfolios to push forward the agenda of the current government. The said ministers took the oath of a minister, oath of allegiance, and the oath of secrecy.

The swearing in, led by the President, followed approval by the legislature by consensus on the nomination of those appointees.

Those who were taken through various oaths at the Presidency yesterday, included Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, Minister-designate for Monitoring and Evaluation, Dan Kweku Botwe, Minister for Regional Reorganisation and Development, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, Minister for Environment Science, Technology and Innovation.

Also on the list were Mr John Peter Amewu, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Ms Otiko Afisah Djaba, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, Minister for Employment and Labour Relations.

In addition, Mr Kwaku Asiamah, Minister for Transport, Joe Nana Ghartey, Minister for Railway Development, Kwasi Amoako-Atta, Minister for Roads and Highways, Ursula Owusu Ekuful, Minister for Communications, Joseph Kofi Adda, Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, and Samuel Atta Akyea, Minister for Works and Housing, were all sworn in yesterday.

Though eleven of the ministers were approved by consensus, Ms Oti Djaba’s approval had to go through Parliamentary votingm as the Minority declined consensus building on her nomination. This followed what the Minority described as arrogance and disrespect on the part of the Minister in question, for refusing to withdraw and apologise to the former President Mahama for calling him ‘evil and wicked’.

As if that was not enough, the nominee confessed she did not do her national service, a legal requirement for any article 72 office holders.

Meanwhile, a letter, dated 2nd February, 2017, signed by Ms Otiko Djaba and addressed to the Chairman of the Appointments Committee Parliament, sought to clarify responses she gave in an answer to a question posed to her during the vetting about her national service.

“I wish to explain further that I did not undertake National Service upon completion of a course of study at the University of Development Studies (UDS), Wa Campus, in 2009, because I was informed that persons who were over forty years of age were exempt from national service.

“I completed UDS in 2009 at the age of 47, and consequently, was under the impression that I was exempt from National Service. As a Ghanaian patriot, who has worked in the most inhospitable parts of Ghana like the Sissala District for over six years, and provided various services to my nation in many other fields of endeavour, it would be inconceivable that I would deliberately abstain serving my nation,” the letter said.

By the constitution, one has to apply for a waiver from the National Service Scheme if an individual intends to hold any public office, but she did not do the constitutional requirement. Meanwhile, the Majority Leader, Osei-Kyei Mensah Bonsu, on the floor, said the nominee had secured a waiver from the National Service Scheme, which makes her eligible to work in any government institution in the country

Ostensibly, on the floor of the House yesterday, the Speaker, having listened to various debates on the nominee, which ended last Friday, directed for voting to take place. At the end of the poll, 152 members voted yes for the nominee.

She only needed 138 out of the 275 members of Parliament.

The post 2nd Batch Of Ministers Sworn In appeared first on The Chronicle - Ghana News.

Read Full Story