Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta
Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister-designate for Finance and Economic Planning, has had his vetting rescheduled to March 8, 2021.
This follows his request for a postponement of his planned ministerial vetting, which was originally scheduled for February 18, 2021.
Mr Ofori-Atta had to travel to the US to seek medical care, following complications after recovering from Covid-19.
The Finance Ministry, in a media release, had explained that the Minister-designate had to travel because the treatment facilities for his complications were not available in Ghana.
Mr Ofori-Atta is expected to be questioned on Ghana’s increasing debt stock, the controversial state of the Agyapa royalties deal among other issues pertaining to the Finance Ministry during his vetting.
Today’s vetting
Meanwhile, the vetting of some Ministers-designate, which was scheduled for yesterday, was postponed to today, February 23, 2021.
The Ministers-designate for Sanitation, Water Resources and Transport, Cecilia Abena Dapaah and Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, respectively, are expected to take their turns at today’s vetting.
The committee went on recess on Friday and will resume today to vet the two ministers-designate.
In the first term of the Akufo-Addo administration, the two nominees held the same positions and will face questions on how the sectors fared under their watch.
With Aviation now part of Transport, Kwaku Asiamah is also expected to be grilled on the Frontier Healthcare Service contract for Covid-19 testing at the Kotoka International Airport.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of Parliament has been urged to develop a template for the vetting of the ministerial nominees.
Template
“The Speaker will have to design a template and a format. What are the questions about? Is it about professional or technical issues? Are they about policy?” Professor Atsu Ayee, a political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, said on Citi FM.
On the performance of the Appointments Committee so far, he said: “I think what they have done so far is satisfactory and there is more room for improvement.”
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