Row at Vetting: Blay Vrs Nketia

The chairman of the Appointment Committee of Parliament, Mr Freddie Blay, yesterday did not take kindly to an allegation made by a member of the committee, Mr. Asiedu Nketia.

That the Deputy Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines designate, his employer, Mim Timber Company, for stealing, had previously sacked Mr Benjamin Osei Kufuor.

Mr. Blay made it clear to Mr. Nketiah that it was unfair for him to make an emphatic statement of stealing against Mr. Kufuor, who is a also an MP.

'Honourable member, if anything at all, the information you claim to have on the President's nominee should have been made available to the Privileges Committee of the house for members to advise themselves since the nominee is a Member of Parliament,' Mr. Blay said.

The Chairman, therefore, described Mr. Nketiah's disclosure at the committee level as most unfortunate and embarrassing. Mr. Kufuor is the NPP MP for Asunafo North, while Mr. Asiedu Nketiah is the NDC Mp for Wenchi West, both in the Brong-Ahafo Region.

Mr. Blay further reminded Mr.Nketiah that the President's nominee is also covered by the privileges of the House and if any member has something against him, the information should have been brought to the notice of the Privileges Committee of Parliament.

Earlier, another member, Alhaji Amadu Ali, NDC MP for Atebubu South and also quizzed Mr. Kufuor about the ownership of the house he is occupying and whether it was acquired lawfully.

In spite of the fact that Mr. Kufuor gave a thorough explanation on the mode of acquisition of the house, Alhaji Ali said he was not convinced with the nominee's answer.

Mr. Blay again cut in to say that since Alhaji Ali was privy to that information, he should have made it available to the committee. He, therefore, gave the member the opportunity to ask more about the house but Alhaji Ali declined to ask any more questions on the matter.

The committee later went into caucus but it was not known whether or not the deliberations centered on the allegations made against Mr. Kufuor. Mr. Kufuor had earlier answered a number of questions relating to the forestry resources, the threat of desertification, land tenure system and compensation and the operations of chainsaw operators.

The deputy minister designate said there is an urgent need for an aggressive national afforestation programme if Ghana is to be saved from the threat of desertification.

'Mr. Chairman, we have been making a lot of rhetoric about afforestation but everybody knows that the Sahara Desert is gradually catching up with us' Mr. Kufuor said he would not support the ban on chainsaw operators because they could be organised into groups to make economic use of the leftovers of timber left to rot in the bush by the big time timber companies.

'The role of the chainsaw operators should be redefined and the operators grouped by the district assemblies so that their operations become useful to the nation,' he stressed.

Mr. Kufuor told the committee that should he get the nod from the committee, one of his priority would be to recommend to the minister to decentralise the operations of the Lands Commission to solve the numerous land tenure disputes, some of which have been pending in the courts for more than 10 years.

He said one area he would also look at is the proper and effective utilisation of the country's timber resources, to add more value by encouraging furnitiure manufacturing companies to expand and diversify their operations to support the economy.