Parliament has no right to reject ministerial nominees because of size of government - NPP MP

The Member of Parliament for Bortianor-Ngleshie Amanfro Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, Sylvester Tetteh has posited that Parliament does not have the constitutional authority to reject ministerial nominees of the president with the sole reason that the size of the government is too big.

According to him, the Appointments Committee of Parliament found no adverse outcomes on any of the said nominees, implying that they are qualified for the position and there is no reason for them to reject them.

He went on to say that the committee's job was to investigate and see if there were any red flags that would prevent them from being appointed as ministers rather than to recommend their rejection based on government size.

Speaking in a panel discussion on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, Sylvester Tetteh added that the legislative procedures shouldn't deviate from the 1992 Constitution.

“Look, you can criticize the size of government but that should not find expression in the decision-making of Parliament, on the face of the law, it is wrong.

“What is your mandate as an Appointments Committee? In recommending or otherwise to plenary or the report that comes to parliament …I would have been happy to say that any of the president’s nominees, there are issues of their competence that border on criminality, that borders on anything adverse that contravenes the 1992 Constitution, that would have been fantastic.

“…but look, parliament does not have the mandate to say that your ministers are too much so don’t bring them, Parliament doesn’t have that mandate,” he stressed.

Prior to the vetting of ministerial nominees by the Appointments Committee of Parliament, the NDC had issued a directive to its MPs to reject the nominees in demand for a reduction in the size of the current government.

However, when the House conducted a secret ballot on the nominees, all six got overwhelming votes despite the equal numbers on both sides of the House.

The outcome of the voting process has led to accusations of treachery being made against the minority MPs.

Some members of the caucus have since taken to social media to express their disappointment with the result while others have sought to claim their innocence.



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