Members of Parliament’s Appointment Committee are fed up with the huge crowd, largely sycophants, who follow nominees being vetted.
The Members of Parliament are riled up because the number keeps increasing from one vetting to another. They have also identified that these people later put undue pressure, on nominees who sail through, for favour.
The committee today vetted Alex Segbefia and Peter Anarfi-Mensah, ministers-designate for Health and Ashanti Region respectively.
Akin to previous sittings, a large number of people including traditional rulers, family members, friends and party functionaries gathered at the venue for the event, making crowd control difficult.
Unhappy about the discomforting turnout, MP for Bekwai, Joe Osei Wusu, who is a member of the committee, has served notice he will file a motion to ban supporters who throng parliament house to support ministerial nominees during vetting.
Some of the supporters told Joy News their presence is to show their “excitement and happiness” about the nomination. Most of these people are transported by the nominee, his supposed sponsors or party officials.
But the support at parliamentary vetting may soon be limited to only four persons if Joe Osei Wusu succeeds in getting the house to adopt his motion.
The MP told Joy News’ parliamentary correspondent, Elton John Brobbey the act is “totally unnecessary and needlessly expensive”, and a drain on the resources of the nominee.
He views the action as “compromising” the nominee even “before he starts work”.
“We have just been discussing it, I intend to move it on the floor that we admit not more than four people, every other person can watch it outside…the immediate family and not more than four,” Mr. Joe-Wusu puts a cap on the attendees.
Majority Chief Whip, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak told Joy News he “perfectly agrees with him”.
“The numbers seem to be increasing every day,” he observed, noting that during today’s vetting, the room, almost the size of three committee rooms, was full to the brim with people standing in the corridor and on the staircase.
In his verdict, only the spouse of a nominee and perhaps MPs who are from the same area as the nominee should be admitted into the room, “aside them we shouldn’t allow people to come in”, he stressed.
Muntaka revealed that most of the people troop in do so for reward. He recalled people “holding grudge” with him that he did not show appreciation after they paid for people to attend his vetting.
The behaviour, he said, “put excessive pressure” on appointees afterwards. According to him, the act amounts to corruption, and parliament, he charged, must “champion any cause to eliminate corruption completely”.
<<Print>>