A social commentator and youth activist, Ivan Innocent Kyei, has asked Parliament to call back Oliver Barker-Vormawor to give him back his apology.
He says the actions of the House, particularly the Appointments Committee, does not depict a Parliament who should demand an apology when offended.
According to him, the behaviour of the Appointments Committee is a sign of disrespect to the entire nation and should not be countenanced by the citizenry.
Speaking on Onua TV’s morning show, Maakye, on Tuesday, February 04, 2025, he wondered how the Appointments Committee of the House could disrespect the entire nation by disrupting the vetting process and expect an apology when same is meted to them.

“This is a Parliament that called Oliver before them to apologise to them for making some comments against them. Parliament should call Oliver back and give him back the apology rendered to them because they don’t deserve the apology,” he stated.
“If you speak to your colleagues in such derogatory manner and come back and expect me to respect you, then you don’t deserve it. I’m expecting that these people will have the sense of urgency that they have disrespected Ghanaians and they will come and apologise to us,” he added.
Background
Oliver Barker-Vormawor, social activist and convenor of DemocracyHub, apologised to the Appointments Committee of Parliament after he was hauled before it, saying his social media post about bribery allegations were not meant to denigrate its members.
Barker-Vormawor, had previously claimed that some committee members demanded bribes from ministerial nominees before vetting and getting them approved. But when he appeared before the members, he explained that his comments were intended to highlight broader concerns about corruption and transparency, rather than directly accuse the committee.
His counsel, Nana Ato Dadzie, appearing before the Appointments Committee Wednesday, January 29, 2025, indicated that his client’s post was inspired by the Whistleblower’s Act and not to disparage the Committee’s integrity.
This followed the Committee’s summon of Barker-Vormawor to provide evidence to the claims he had made against members of the committee which he obliged and attended with his counsel.
After his lawyer denying one of the statements and admitting to the other, he said his client was before the committee to apologise for his post which was made to highlight the broader spectrum of corruption in the country rather than attacking the integrity of Parliament.
“I am saying here clearly that my post was not intended to disparage members of the committee, and I have not intended to say that members of this committee have received or demanded bribes from various individuals. At no point was my statement intended to communicate the same, and for those reasons, I apologize,” said Barker-Vormawor.
In his explanation to why he did not delete the post, he said: “The reason why I have left the post on was because I saw that the words had been twisted, and it became imperative for me to maintain the post in its original form so that, if questioned on it, reference could be made for verification.”
Barker-Vormawor added that he was willing to remove the post, signalling his commitment to resolving the issue amicably.
Chaos at Appointments C’ttee: The vetting has become a revenge theatre – Youth activist