Withdraw Mrs Kusi's appointment-minority

Accra, Oct. 28 - The Minority in Parliament on Thursday called on President John Agyekum Kufuor to withdraw the appointment of Mrs Gifty Eugenia Kusi from the Boards of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and Goldfields Mining Company Limited.

In a statement issued in Parliament and signed by Mahama Ayariga, NDC Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, the Minority said Mrs Kusi is at present a Member of Parliament and the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy and has oversight responsibility for the Ministry.

"So, therefore, her appointment by the President to the Board of the NPA would put her in a position where a conflict of interest is likely to arise, which could compromise her.

"Her membership of the Board will prejudice her work as a chairperson of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy". The statement said equally, her membership of the Board of the Goldfields Mining Company also put her in a position that created a likely conflict of interest in relation to her role as the chairperson of the Mines and Energy Committee that had oversight responsibility for the Mining Sector.

It finally urged Mrs Kusi, who is also the NPP Member of Parliament for Tarkwa Nsuaem, to resign from the board of the NPA. Meanwhile efforts by the GNA to contact Mrs Kusi for her reaction to the statement proved futile, as she was not present in Parliament and could also not be reached on her phone.

However, the Deputy Majority Leader Mr Abraham Ossei Aidooh told the GNA that the President did not err in appointing Mrs Kusi to the Board, since most MPs, who were members of various select committees were also with some of the Boards.

Mr Aidooh, however, agreed to a question that in terms of the constitutional framework Mrs Kusi's appointment to the particular Board was not the ideal situation. 28 Oct. 05