The Deputy Minority Leader in Parliament has attributed the controversies surrounding the ongoing ministerial vetting process to ignoring long-standing practices that have guided the work of the Appointment Committee over the years.
Patricia Appiagyei expressed concern that the committee’s new leadership has failed to adhere to established norms, leading to misunderstandings and inefficiencies.
“Currently, we are undertaking the vetting of the President’s nominees for the various sectors, and we’ve had a number of issues—not because of partisanship, but because both of the leadership on the committee now are totally new. The Chair of the committee has never been on the committee, and then the Ranking Member has never been on the committee. And these are some of the things that we need to iron out.” she said.
Madam Appiagyei noted that previous Appointment Committees followed well-established practices, but these have been disregarded, creating confusion in the vetting process.
“There are rules, or I should say, by practice, what we do. The Appointment Committee that has been there over the years had certain practices, which are not being followed now.
“Because we are masters of our own rules, we can determine to vary them, but the variations now are causing problems,” she explained.
A key deviation she highlighted was the failure to adhere to the standard period for advertising ministerial nominations.
“A number of things have been hurried, and one typical issue that has been very hurried is the fact that previously, we were meant to advertise the nomination of everybody appointed for a period of not less than two weeks,” she revealed.
“At a point in time, I remember the last government even had to advertise for just about a week, in some cases three days. But as it is now, due to the exigencies of the time, we have varied most of these. That’s why we see the controversies and misunderstandings breaking out at the meetings.”
Madam Appiagyei stressed that the urgency with which the government seeks to form its cabinet has further complicated the situation.
“The government of the day made an express indication that it would rather set up the cabinet within a period of about two weeks, which was almost impossible. But as much as possible, we should try to assist so that government business can take off,” she said.
Clarifying her stance on the Chairman of the Appointment Committee, the Deputy Minority Leader stated that she was not questioning his competence but rather his exposure to the specific workings of the committee.
“I am not saying the Chair is not experienced, I am saying exposure. Because people serve on various committees, and the practices vary from one committee to the other,” she explained.
