First Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Chairman of Appointments Committee of Parliament, Bernard Ahiafor has accused the Minority Leader of using the vetting process to settle his political issues with ministerial nominees.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with TV3’s Alfred Ocansey, Mr. Ahiafor questioned the rationale behind of some of the questions which were asked by the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin during the vetting.
According to him, the leader, during the vetting posed some questions which did not benefit to seek the eligibility of the nominees, rather to address some political comments and matters.
“It has not landed on anything concrete as a result of the questions that he was asking that will go a long way to pin the persons down. The question that you should be asking is the person appearing before you is he eligible? Is he competent to hold that position?
“It’s like vetting is being used by the honourable Minority leader to settle political scores. That is how I can say it. Where was the decision taken not to approve Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah,” he lamented on Monday, February 3, 2025.
Bernard Ahiafor commended Speaker Bagbin for suspending some four MPs who were involved in the incident.
“Perfectly, what we need to understand that a Committee Chair is more like a Speaker. There is nothing that a speaker can do or powers that the Committee does not have.
“If you listen to speaker’s statement carefully his decision was informed that the incident happened in Parliament so it is as if the incident happened on the floor so he has taken a decision as a Speaker,” he added.
We had quorum to continue vetting despite walk out by Minority – Ahiafor
