Political ‘foes’ turned friends: Fifi Kwetey recounts grilling 2009 vetting that lasted 7 hours

When he was the propaganda secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Fifi Kwetey was tagged for making a lot of comments that he believes were ‘painful truths’ that contributed to the New Patriotic Party’s defeat in the 2008 elections.

Many years later, and with the benefit of hindsight, the newly-elected General Secretary of the NDC admits that not everything was properly communicated as it should have been, but what he said was true.

Also, he is of the view that it was because of all those truths that, during his 2009 vetting before the Appointments Committee of Parliament for the position of Deputy Minister of Finance, he was given one of the longest-ever sessions before the House: 7 plus hours.

“It was quite a long one. Well, it was hell, but at the same time, it was challenging and nice as well… I had banters with Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Ambrose Dery, a lot of them; but good friends now,” he told Citi TV’s Umaru Sanda Amadu in a March 2022 interview.

The gruelling 2009 vetting of Fifi Kwetey:

Having been appointed by the late former president of Ghana, John Evans Atta Mills, as a deputy minister-designate for finance, the vetting of Fifi Kwetey was characterized by stormy arguments throughout the period that lasted more than 7 hours.

All the drama started when the Member of Parliament for Akim Abuakwa South, Samuel Atta Akyea, described him as a man of lies and one who was unfit to occupy the important office of the Deputy Minister of Finance.

Completely displeased by this description of their own, the NDC members on the Appointments Committee jumped in defence, stating that Atta Akyea was only trying to settle personal scores with Fiifi Kwetey.

However, the MP for Akim Abuakwa South responded that he had never seen or met Fiifi Kwetey the day before the vetting, stressing that all he intended to do was to point out issues the nominee churned out prior to the 2008 general elections.

One of the issues the MP raised was that the NDC's Forum for Setting the Records Straight, of which the nominee was a leading member, had stated in 2008 that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was a violent man and that his thugs beat up one NDC sympathizer, Abu Mohammed, crippling him in the process.

However, in speaking about that experience during his March 2022 interview with Citi TV, Fifi Kwetey said that the issues were far beyond that.

He explained that it was because the NPP knew for a fact that what he spoke were truths.

“Actually, in truth, they did not take me on because of what I said was not true; they took me on because what I said was painfully true and took them out of power. So, it was more about getting back at me because I was seen as the reason they lost power.

“So, I’m not saying every single thing I said was perfectly accurate, but they were not things we said that you’ll call a lie. Maybe certain things could have been checked better… it was more like, yeah, this is our time; this is payback time,” he explained.

Today, Fifi Kwetey smiles over that incident, stating that what seemed like some animosity between the MPs who grilled him during that vetting, although on the other side of the political divide, are now his friends.

AE/BOG