Parliament approves Afeku by consensus

Parliament has approved the nomination of the Minister-designate for Tourism, Arts and Culture Catherine Afeku by consensus.

This was after the nominee presented the appointments committee with a waiver letter given her by the national service secretariat.

The Minority on the committee had earlier said they were not going to approve her as a matter of principle, after a similar position was taken against Gender minister Otiko Afisa Djaba.

But Starr News’ Parliamentary correspondent Ibrahim Alhassan reports from the Chamber that Mrs. Afeku has been approved along with 11 others who were vetted by the committee.

Mrs. Afeku told the Appointments Committee of Parliament during her vetting that she did not do national service as required by law.

According to her, she could not honour her constitutional obligation because she was living outside the country at the time she completed her tertiary education.

“I was living in Nairobi, Kenya at that time and because my parents were there, I was not given the opportunity to be in Ghana to undertake the national service, so, no I did not do national service, I actually worked in Kenya; for the three months that I came out of university…I was not in Ghana at that time,” she explained.