Crippling economic crisis, food insecurity, debt overhang from excessive borrowing, as well as wasteful and reckless expenditure, according to Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, were part of the reasons the caucus had to stage a walkout during the approval of the new ministers Friday, May 17, 2024.
He had disclosed prior to the caucus’s walkout that the Minority representatives on the Appointments Committee had voted against the nominees’ approval at the committee level.
According to him, there was no need for those ministers to be approved due to the hardship the country had gone through and is going through, indicating the new appointments were going to put extra financial burden on the taxpayer.
Instead of protecting the public purse and making meaningful use of the limited resources the State has, Dr. Ato Forson said this government is bent on wasting taxpayers’ contributions as no day passes by without the uncovering of a wasteful expenditure.
“Ordinary Ghanaians continue to bite the bullet and businesses are struggling under high tax regime to contribute to the development of country.
“What is expected on the part of government would have been prudent management of these contributions from the people of Ghana but hardly a day passes without one reckless and wasteful expenditure or the other by this government being uncovered,” he said.
He explained that Ghana’s present unfortunate situation occasioned by the current government did not only call for new, creative and radical ways of confronting challenges but it also called for modesty and sacrifice by the political class.
“It cannot be right that while the government urges the people to bite the bullet, those in government and their family and friends chew chocolate.
“Merely piling on numbers by way of appointment of ministers and deputy ministers does not signal to the people of Ghana that the President understands the seriousness of the mess that his government has created,” Dr. Ato Forson added.
Meanwhile, the Majority, despite the Minority’s walkout, approved all 24 newly appointees who had been vetted by Parliament March this year. Their approval was suspended when Parliament had to go on a recces at the time the Appointments Committee finished their vetting.
Minister-designates
The minister-designates are Andrew Egyapa Mercer for the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture; Lydia Seyram Alhassan for the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources; Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah for the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development and Ophelia Mensah Hayford for the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation.
The rest are Darkoa Newman for the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection; Dr Bernard Okoe Boye for the Ministry of Health; Daniel, Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover for Greater Accra Region; Fatimatu Abubakar for the Ministry of Information, and Daniel Machator for the Oti Region, with Abena Osei-Asare as the minister of state-designate.
Deputy minister-designates
The deputy minister-designates are Dr Benjamin Sekyere Yeboah for the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection; Sylvester Tetteh for the Ministry of Information; Charles Acheampong for the Ministry of Communication and Digitalisation; Adelaide Ntim for the Ministry of Health, and Vincent Ekow Assafuah for the Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development.
The others are John Kobina Abbam Aboah Sanie for the Ministry of Energy; Collins Adomako Mensah for the Ministry of Energy; Professor Kingsley Nyarko for the Ministry of Education; Dr Festus Awuah Kwofie for the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations; Akwasi Konadu for the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources; Musah Abdul Aziz Ayaba for the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development and Dr Alexander Ampaabeng for the Ministry of Finance.
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