'CARE' Ghana petitions Parliament over nomination of Hawa Koomson

Care for Free and Fair Elections Ghana (“CARE” GHANA), a civil society Organisation, has petitioned Mr Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament and the Leadership, to reject the nomination of Madam Mavis Hawa Koomson, as Minster for Fisheries and Aquaculture.

A statement signed by Mr David Kumi Addo, Executive Secretary, “CARE” GHANA, said the petition to reject Madam Koomson’s nomination or appointment was based on her “credibility deficit”, “violent tendencies” and “incompetence.”

It said Madam Koomson, as a Minister for Special Development Initiative, presented to Parliament a budget of GH¢800,000.00 for the development of a website, which outrageous.

The petition said the “deceptive act” demonstrated indicated the lack of credibility on her part and smacked of corruption, which was detrimental to the development of the nation.

The statement said the “act of corruption” had also imposed untold hardship on Ghanaians, especially those living in depressed communities, denying them of basic social amenities and developmental project required to improve their living conditions.

“Her actions are in clear at variance with the law and contrary to the behaviour expected of a Minister of State. Owing to this, she has lost credibility and public respect thereby preventing her from holding any future ministerial position,” the statement said.

Again, it said Madam Koomson's “frequent engagement in violent activities” was in clear violation of the code of conduct strictly observed by ministers of state and did not reflect the supposed demeanour of a Minister.

“For example, she admitted shooting sporadically into the air in public in one of the registration centres in the Awutu Senya East Constituency during the voter registration exercise, an act that won for Ghana an international embarrassment and sunk the respect the public had for her as a Mnister and the Ministry of Special Development Initiative.”

“She also allegedly encouraged her vigilantes to attack anyone that crossed her path during the December 7, 2020 General Elections. This comes to question her ability to live in harmony and build a good working relationship with people.”

The statement said the “violent disposition” of the Ministerial Nominee would ostensibly deny her the opportunity to excel, thus, she would become a ponderous liability on the State and the Ministry.

It said her “penchant for violence to mask her incompetence” obviously exposed her inability to focus on her core mandate to deliver and this opened her up for criticism and public ridicule, bringing the name of her Ministry and government into disrepute if so approved.

The statement said Madam Koomson’s “poor performance” in her previous appointment as the Minister for Special Development Initiative “disqualified” her from becoming the Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture.

“As a Minister for Development, she did very little in terms of development to alleviate the suffering of the masses. The poor implementation of the ‘One Village One Damn’ under the Special Development Initiative and her supervision of the construction of dug outs instead of dams needed for irrigation and other agricultural activities in the dry season worsened the plight of the communities deprived of water.”

It said her “incompetence” in that regard amounted to a waste of the tax payer's money since it could not serve any purpose in those communities.

“We are, therefore, of the view that, her approval to become the Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture will aggregate to a square peg in a round hole because the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture is a dynamic and a more challenging Ministry that requires individuals with the right attitude and competence to advance progress in terms of development, hence our call to reject her nomination.”

The statement said to serve in the high office of a Minister of State, required “competence, credibility and sobriety in the least, which Madam Koomson had demonstrated to lack when she was given the opportunity to serve as Minister for the Special Development Initiative.”

“We, therefore, pray that in the interest of good governance and country, her nomination should be totally rejected by this honorable committee. We humbly submit for your consideration.”

Madam Hawa Koomson declined to respond to the allegations made gains her.