Members of the Minority Caucus on Parliament’s Appointments Committee have boycotted the vetting of the Deputy Minister-designate for Trade and Industry.
Kofi Ahenkorah-Marfo, the Deputy Trade and Industry Minister-designate, is scheduled to be vetted today, July 2, but according to a press statement issued by Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, he and his colleagues will not participate in the process.
Minority members claim that present economic conditions make it hard for them to participate in the screening process.
The caucus also referenced the relocation of foreign corporations from Ghana, indicating such cases warrant a reduction in government size rather than an expansion.
“We are again unable to support this nomination by President Akufo-Addo at this time because our country has gone through (and continues to go through) very difficult periods, including the crippling economic crisis, food insecurity, debt default as a result of excessive borrowing, corruption in government and wasteful and reckless expenditures.
“With ordinary Ghanaians going through excruciating hardships and businesses relocating from Ghana as a result of the high tax regime created by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government, one would have expected the President to downsize his already large government. This would have sent a signal to the people that the President was mindful of the economic realities and was willing to do things differently to restore the needed confidence in the economy.”
The Minority members further stressed that “We will not, and cannot, take part in a decision to further burden the already suffering Ghanaian, especially when the president is unmindful of the financial consequences of his bloated government.”
