The approval of six deputy ministerial appointments has been put on hold to enable the Appointments Committee of Parliament to investigate some allegations made against them. The nominees are the MP for Asunafo-North, Ben Osei Kufuor for Lands, Forestry and Mines; Alhaji Moctar Bamba Musah for Presidential Affairs; MP for Damongo, Alex Seidu Sofo for Roads and highways; Agyeman Manu for Transport and Communications; Sophia Honer-Sam for Western region and John Debrah for Manpower Development and Employment.
Mr. Ben Kufuor is having problems over his alleged dismissal by his previous employers for theft and some issues about his academic certificates. Last week the President nominated yet another person, Professor Kassim Kasanga, as an additional Deputy Minister for Lands, Forestry and Mines. This brings to three, the number of deputies for the ministry, with Clement Eledi already at post.
Sources close to the Presidency have hinted that Professor Kasanga’s nomination signals a withdrawal of the nomination of Mr. Ben Kufuor. Media Relations Minister, Elizabeth Ohene, will not confirm this but indicated in an interview with Joy FM, that the President had to make another nomination because work at the ministry was being stalled.
Joy FM also learnt that President Kufuor had earlier written to the appointment’s committee to withdraw the nomination of two nominees including Ben Osei Kufuor, but the Chairman of the Appointments Committee, Freddie Blay has denied this. Freddie Blay also refused to disclose the outcome of the committee’s investigations into allegations against Mr. Ben Osei Kufuor.
In the case of Alhaji Musah, the committee was not convinced about the explanations he gave concerning his certificate from the Institute of Professional Studies (IPS). The problem with the other four deputy ministerial nominees has to do with their lacklustre performance when they appeared before the committee.
