Minority to participate in vetting of new ministers

The Minority in Parliament has indicated its preparedness to indulge in the vetting of new ministers appointed by President John Dramani Mahama in his recent reshuffle.

Minority Leader Osei-Kyei Mensah-Bonsu confided in TV3 over the weekend that the Minority Members of Parliament (MPs) serving on the Vetting and Appointments Committee will be present throughout sitting during the period of the exercise.

“We are going to participate,” Mr Mensah-Bonsu insisted.

Minority MPs, who are mostly members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), boycotted the vetting process last year, with the pretext that President Mahama’s government was “unconstitutional” as a result of the then election petition case filed against results of the 2012 elections.

Though the Minority has been occasionally blamed for some of the woes of the country, the Suame Constituency MP said NPP Members’ participation in the vetting process in 2013 would have made little difference in the outcome.

“In 2009, we made our positions clear in respect of many of the nominations [but] the majority overruled us using sheer numbers in Parliament,” he stated.

According to him, what the Minority will do at best is to ask “the most basic questions” for Ghanaians to judge how the nominees answer them.