Minority boycotts vetting of Herbert Krapa

The Minority in Parliament has staged a boycott of the vetting process for Herbert Krapa, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's nominee for Minister of State at the Energy Ministry.

President Akufo-Addo cited the heavy workload at the ministry as the reason for Mr. Krapa’s nomination, who is currently serving as a Deputy Minister in the same ministry.

During the Appointments Committee sitting, Deputy Minority Leader Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah articulated the reasons behind the caucus' boycott.

He criticized the nomination process for lacking transparency and failing to publish the nomination in a national newspaper, thus denying the public an opportunity to submit memoranda or make representations to the Appointments Committee.

"The Minority Council has taken note of attempts by the majority side to short-circuit and circumvent the due process required in the vetting of the President’s nominee for the position of Minister of State at the Ministry of Energy," he remarked.

He underscored the importance of following long-standing parliamentary practices, which require nominations to be published in a national newspaper to inform and solicit input from the public.

He stated: "Long-standing parliamentary practice requires that persons nominated for appointment by the President shall be published in a newspaper of national circulation to inform and request memoranda or representation from the public.

"This ordinarily means that the public ought to be given reasonable notice and adequate time to submit memoranda or make representations to the Appointments Committee. Unfortunately, as we speak this morning, this has not happened. These requirements have totally been breached."

The Deputy Minority Leader also questioned the necessity of appointing a Minister of State to the Energy Ministry when a substantive Minister is already in place.

The minority believes the process is designed to exclude public participation and contribute to the bloated size of the government.

"The minority wishes to serve notice that it will not be part of 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," Mr. Buah said.

He further emphasized: "Consistent with the minority’s earlier position, the caucus will not participate in the vetting of any ministerial nominee that adds to the already bloated size of this Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government."