Renowned broadcaster Samson Lardy Anyenini has criticized members of Parliament (MPs) of the minority caucus for failing to block the approval of ministerial and judicial appointees of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Speaking on his NewsFile programme on JoyNews, on Saturday, lawyer Anyenini said that the minority caucus had the numbers to disapprove the nominees, which many Ghanaians were yearning for, but they failed because some of their MPs decided to vote with the government.
“… last night you had equal numbers on both sides and you failed as an opposition if you think that the pulse of the nation was against this (approving the appointees).
“If you have equal numbers last night and you cannot do the work of the opposition and the president is still capable of doing everything except change a man into a woman then you are a useless opposition,” Anyenini said as he was addressing the National Democratic Congress’s (NDC’s) Felix Kwakye Ofosu.
Felix Kwakye Ofosu, a former Deputy Minister for Communications, however, refuted the broadcaster’s suggestion that the NDC is useless, saying that cannot be blamed for the hardship in Ghana because it is unable to check the government.
According to him, it is the president and his government who are “useless”, adding that Ghanaians must also be careful about whom they elect to govern the country.
Kwakye Ofosu added that even though the concerns of Ghanaians on NDC Members of Parliament not being able to check the government are right, the party cannot be held responsible for the failings of the Akufo-Addo government.
“First of all, the Ghanaian people have the responsibility to watch who they elect into office. You see, you cannot go and elect a useless government and shift the burden of policing them on another party,” he said.
Parliament approves all six nominees, two Supreme Court Justices:
Parliament on Friday, March 24 approved all six ministerial nominees as well as the nominees of the supreme court of President Akufo-Addo after a heated debate, 24 hours prior, and a tense voting process.
Final results declared by Speaker Alban Bagbin showed that all nominees got more votes than the minimum of 138 votes required because out of the 275 eligible voters, there were three absent.
Some Members of Parliament (MPs) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) did not adhere to the decision of the party to vote against the approval of the nominees.
Kobina Tahiru Hammond (MP for Adansi Asokwa) was approved as the Minister of Trade and Industry and Bryan Acheampong (MP for Abetifi) as the Minister of Food and Agriculture.
Other nominees who were approved include Stephen Asamoah Boateng, as Ministry of Chieftaincy; Mohammed Amin Adam, Minister of State (Ministry of Finance), and Osei Bonsu Amoah, Ministry of Local Government.
Stephen Amoah, the Member of Parliament for Nhyiaeso, was also approved as the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry.
The Supreme Court nominees who were approved include George Kingsley Koomson, Justice of the Court of Appeal, and Justice Ernest Yao Gaewu, Justice of the High Court.
