‘Back-door’ veeps must be vetted in public

Details

Category: Politics

Created on Thursday, 02 August 2012 00:00

Hits: 2927

‘Back-door’ veeps must be vetted in public

{sidebar id=10 align=right}The Minority Leader is convinced Parliament’s decision to vet the newly nominated vice-president, Mr Kwesi Amissah-Arthur in public is right thing to do.

Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu insisted “back door” vice presidential nominees who did not have the benefit of a campaign season with the flagbearer, must be scrutinized by the representatives of the people in the full glare of the population before assuming office.

His comments come shortly after it was announced by the Appointments Committee of Parliament that the former Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Mr Kwesi Amissah-Arthur who has now been nominated to a higher office of a vice –president will be vetted in public on Monday.

There was initial controversy over the procedure to be used in approving him with some MPs kicking against a public vetting saying the office of the vice-president will be unduly exposed.

But Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu explained whilst campaigning as a pair, both the flagbearer and the vice-presidential candidates are subjected to series of questions by electorates which form the basis for the voting of the pair into office.

But in the scenario where the death of a sitting president forces a vice president to be sworn-in as president and he in turn nominates a vice-president as happened recently in Ghana, Osei Kyei-Mensah- Bonsu was unequivocal the new vice presidential candidate must be vetted in public.

He said with our recent political history where a vice president woke-up in the morning and was sworn in as president in the evening, it was all the more crucial for the country to know the personality they are going to approve to the second highest position in the country.

He rejected suggestions that the Minority will be all out politicking and seeking to embarrass the nominee when he appears on Monday.

He said the mood in the country is that of gloom and the minority will not go out of its way to worsen the dilemma the county finds itself.

Majority Leader Cletus Avoka who had early on kicked against a public vetting for the vice presidential nominee said the decision taken by the Appointment Committee was a compromised one.

Even though the decision still remains a public vetting, he said the time allotted for the vetting has been short circuited.

He said in a likely event that issues of national security or other serious issues crop up those issues will be heard in camera.

Executive Director of the Institute of Democratic Governance Dr Emmanuel Akwetey welcomed the decision to vet the nominee in public.

That he said will be a vital principle towards the deepening of transparency in the country.

From:Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com

No comments

Prez Mahama Launches Campaign At Funeral

Details

Category: Politics

Created on Wednesday, 01 August 2012 00:00

Hits: 2795

Prez Mahama Launches Campaign At Funeral

The One-week celebration of the late President John Evans Atta Mills was virtually turned into a political campaign when President John Dramani Mahama seized the opportunity to market himself and his political ambition.

At a well-attended celebration at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park in Accra, President Mahama sought to woo the youth into voting for him in the upcoming elections since he had now become the flagbearer of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).

{sidebar id=10 align=right}In the course of his speech, Mr. Mahama noted. “God has in his wisdom shifted the mantle of power to a new generation and I call on the generation of young people of this country to stand by me and let us show our fathers that we are ready to take over this responsibility and make a good job of it and that tomorrow when they are dead and gone, they will know that their children were well brought up; took over responsibility and made sure the nation Ghana continued to hold the pride of place in Africa.”

He went a step further with a brief account of himself.

“I was born in 1958. I’m the first President of this country to have been born in the nation Ghana after we attained independence; all previous presidents were born before 1957.”

All this while, his right-had man, Kwesi Seinti Baffoe Bonnie, was seen urging the crowd to applaud in a very patronizing way.

Whilst admitting that President Mills’s death had placed what he described as “a very heavy responsibility” on him.

Mr. Mahama appealed to the country’s teaming youth to rally behind him since “I cannot do it alone.

I can only carry this responsibility if I have the support of the majority of the people of Ghana.

Source: Charles Takyi-Boadu/D-Guide

No comments

NPP organiser: Mahama poses no threat to us

Details

Category: Politics

Created on Wednesday, 01 August 2012 00:00

Hits: 2884

NPP organiser: Mahama poses no threat to us

The deputy organiser of the New Juabeng North constituency of the New Patriotic Party, Ernest Nyarko, has rejected claims from some quarters that the assumption of office by John Dramani Mahama as the president of Ghana poses a threat to the party’s determination to return to the corridors of power in the December elections.

According to Mr Nyarko, affectionately called Odompogya, President Mahama carries all the “baggage” of the National Democratic Congress government under the presidency of the late Prof John Evans Atta Mills because he was an integral part of the failures of the administration.

“In fact, President Mahama has even made the matter easier for us by making a public declaration that the late president gave him more room to operate. What this means is that Mr Mahama as the Vice President was virtually in charge in the management of the nation. And, of course, every Ghanaian knows he was running the show.

{sidebar id=12 align=right}So, the NDC record in government is actually what he represents, and I don’t think the record is a good one that the people are enthused about,” he noted in an interview with the New Statesman.

The NPP organiser said his party would not change its campaign message but would remain focused on telling the electorate the sound and pragmatic programme the party and its presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, had put in place to salvage the national economy.

“Interestingly, the man who had led the economy into its present comatose state is the one who is now the president. As Chairman of the Economic Management team, President John Mahama had superintended over the free fall of the cedi which remains a major headache for Ghanaians.

Such a person certainly does not have what it takes to salvage the economy and move it to where Ghanaians want to see it,” he stressed.

He expressed the condolences of the NPP to Mrs Ernestina Naadu Mills, wife of the late president, the bereaved family, the NDC, the government and the entire nation.

He appealed to all to support the effort to give the departed president a befitting burial, adding: “as a our late president, all of us owe him a divine responsibility to ensure that he gets a very befitting burial and funeral because we are all one people with a common destiny.”

News Desk Source: thestatesmanonline.com

No comments

Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur Appointed VEEP

Details

Category: Politics

Created on Tuesday, 31 July 2012 00:00

Hits: 3295

Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur Appointed VEEP

Exclusive information reaching Peacefmonline.com indicates that the governor of Bank of Ghana, Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur has been appointed as the vice President of the Republic of Ghana.

Several names came up within the week for the position, but the governor of Bank of Ghana beat off stiff competition from other renowned NDC personalities.

The position of the Vice President became vacant following the elevation of the then Vice President John Mahama to the high office of the President after the death of President Mills at the 37 Military Hospital on Tuesday July 24, 2012..

{sidebar id=10 align=right}Article 60 (10) of the 1992 Constitution states that “the Vice President shall, upon assuming office as President under clause 6 of this article nominate a person to the office of Vice President subject to approval by Parliament.”

Article 60 (1) of the 1992 Constitution also states that there shall be a Vice President of Ghana who shall perform such functions as may be assigned to him by this Constitution or by the President.

Dr. Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, an Economist was appointed by the late President Mills as Governor of the Central Bank on October 1, 2009 to replace Dr. Paul Acquah who served 8 years as Governor.

Mr. Amissah-Arthur holds a Masters Degree in Economics and has lectured in Economics at the University of Ghana and also at the Anambra State College of Education, Awka Anambra State, Nigeria.

Mr. Amissah Arthur also worked as PNDC Deputy Secretary for the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and continued to work in the same capacity during the first term of the Rawlings-led NDC Government.

He was among the team of technocrats who managed Ghana’s structural adjustment programme since 1980 that helped in reviving the collapsing Ghanaian economy.

Prior to his appointment as Governor of Ghana’s Central Bank, he worked as a private consultant.

There has been intense lobbying for that top position.

The running mate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP’s) presidential candidate, Mahamudu Bawumia’s mastery over economics, against the backdrop of his identification of the challenges facing the country’s fiscal management, was largely used by the opposition NPP to parry political polemics from its rival NDC as the two engaged each other in the game of partisan politics.

Perhaps, it is the expectation of the ruling party that with such a choice, the NDC would be able to respond adequately to the incursions of Dr. Bawumia.

The running mate to the flag-bearer of the NPP was the deputy governor of the apex bank and one could easily conclude that the two leading parties are letting loose their gurus of fiscal management on the political arena.

The short-listing of the Bank of Ghana governor is the culmination of a brief but stressful challenge given the long list of possibilities.

His appointment has automatically knocked off some high-profile personalities who came up strongly as favourites for the position. They included Dr Kwesi Botchwey, a former Minister of Finance; Ms Hannah Tetteh, the current Minister of Trade and Industry; Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development.

The names of Mr P.V. Obeng, the Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC); Mr Goosie Tanoh, a leading member of the party; Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, and Mr Sylvester Mensah, the Chief Executive of the National Health Insurance Authority, also popped up.

More soon...

Source: Beatrice Adepa Frempong/peacefmonline.com

No comments