Accra, Jan. 23, GNA – Parliament is set to vet persons nominated by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for ministerial positions by asking the House to consider the nominees and approve them to their various portfolios.
Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, who read the communication from the President to the House at the plenary, referred the nominations to the Appointments Committee of Parliament.
The 26-member Appointments Committee, chaired by First Deputy Speaker Joseph Osei-Owusu, would vet the nominees to determine their suitability for the positions after which it would report to the House when it sits in full, known as the plenary.
In the list submitted, some nominees who served in the first term of President Akufo-Addo’s Administration have been maintained, some have had their portfolios changed, while others are new entrants.
Those maintained are Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah as Minister of Information, Mr Ken Ofori Atta for Finance, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto for Food and Agriculture, Mr Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanten for Trade and Industry, Mrs Ursula Owusu Ekuful for Communications, Mr Albert Kan Dapaah for National Security, Mr Dominic Nitiwul for Defence, Mr Ambrose Dery for the Interior and Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.
The rest are Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Kwaku Agyemang Manu for Health, Mr Kwasi Amoako Atta for Roads and Highways, Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah for Transport, Cecilia Abena Dapaah for Sanitation and Water Resources, and Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah for Employment and Labour Relations.
Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, former Deputy Minister of Justice and Attorney General, and Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, former Deputy Minister of Education, have been promoted to take full responsibilities for their respective ministries.
Mr Francis Asenso-Boakye for Works and Housing, Mr Samuel Abdulai Jinapor for Lands and Natural Resources, Mustapha Yussif for Youth and Sports and Ebenezer Kojo Kum for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs are new entrants.
Ms Freda Prempeh, MP for Tano North, is now the Minister Designate for Works and Housing; while Mr Anthony Cudjoe is the Minister Designate for Public Enterprises.
Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, immediate past former Minister of Education, is now Minister Designate for Energy, Mr John Peter Amewu, former Minister of Energy, is now for the Ministry of Railway Development; while Mrs Mavis Hawa Koomson, immediate past former Minister of Special Development Initiatives, has been assigned to the Fisheries and Aquaculture Development Ministry.
Mr Dan Botwe, former Minister of Regional Reorganisation and Development, is the Minister Designate for Local Government and Rural Development.
Dr Ibrahim Awal Mohammed, former Minister of Business Development, is now the Minister Designate of Tourism, Arts and Culture; with Sarah Adwoa Safo, former Minister of State in Charge of Public Procurement, is now the Minister Designate for Gender, Children and Social Protection.
