Parliament’s Appointments Committee Vets the Sixth Batch of President’s Deputy Ministerial Nominees.
10-06-2021
The sixth day of the Appointments Committee vetting began with the Deputy Minister for Transport, former Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority and MP for Gushegu Alhassan Tampuli Sulemana informing the Committee about how he will assist the substantive Minister.
The nominee, a public administrator, lawyer and energy expert is an alumnus of the University of Ghana and the Ghana School of Law and was assessed to ascertain his suitability or otherwise for onward approval by the entire House.
He stated that the carnages on our roads are regrettable adding that Government has begun a dualization exercise on some major roads in the country including the Accra to Takoradi road, Takoradi to Tarkwa road, Accra to Kumasi as well as Tamale to Paga roads to reduce road accident mortality as well as number of people sustaining injuries at varying degrees.
The Deputy Finance Minister-designate, John Ampontuah Kumah appearing before the Committee indicated that his experience as a communicator and a lawyer would enable him to bridge the gap that exists between the Finance Ministry and the general public to resolve the communication challenge.
The Ejisu Member of Parliament obtained a BA degree in Economics with Philosophy from the University of Ghana (Legon) and holds a double Master’s-Applied Business Research-from the Swiss Business School, an Executive Masters in Business Administration (Finance) from GIMPA and a Doctorate degree in Business Administration.
A member of the Appointment Committee of Parliament, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the National Entrepreneurship Training and Innovation Programme during the first administration of President Akufo-Addo.
The nominee said what he will bring on board is to obviously help energise the already hard-working team led by the Minister Ken Ofori Atta at the Finance Ministry and assist in communicating the many achievements of the Finance Ministry to the public
According to him the country's high debt stock can be attributed to the toll the Covid-19 pandemic had on the country’s economy and though admitting that debt figures have shot up, the nominee said the Ministry is going to consolidate the different reports on the country’s debt by Government and the International Monetary Fund.
He indicated that his goal for the next four years would be to execute the vision of President Akufo-Addo to see Ghana Beyond Aid and bemoaned the country’s huge import bills in spite of huge and arable land lying fallow to be tilled for agricultural purposes and declared to highlight the financial benefits of agriculture to bring the youth into the agricultural enterprise.
Former Executive Secretary of the Ghana Free Zones Board Michael Okyere Baafi the President’s nominee as the Deputy Minister-designate for Trade and Industry is currently the Member of Parliament for the New Juaben South Constituency.
He holds a BSc in Psychology and an MBA in Marketing and Corporate Strategy from the University of Cape Coast (UCC) and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (KNUST) and is also at the final stages of completing an M.Sc. degree in Risk Management and Consulting.
The nominee submitted to the Committed that the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, with a combined GDP and growth in market size is of a great advantage and a saviour to Africa while the Ghana Enterprise Agency has subsequently been established to make Ghanaian businesses more competitive in the AfCFA and the Government’s plans for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
He disclosed that The One District One Factory Board has taken measures to shift attention to other regions especially enclaves in the northern parts of the country adding that lands have already been secured for the free zone enclave in Tamale to commence an Agro-Processing unit and declared his intention to interact with traders to know how the Ministry will be useful to them.
The Member of Parliament for Gomoa Central constituency Naana Ayiah Quansah who is heading to the Interior Ministry was the last nominee to be vetted by the Committee.
She obtained a Certificate in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution from Macquarie Graduate School, Australia and a Certificate in Governance and Leadership from East London College.
As regards specific things the nominee will do to assist her substantive minister, the Deputy Minister-designate pledged to see to the recruitment of more women in particular and personnel in general but when quizzed on the recruitment of more women into the security service she quickly said the current process of recruiting persons in the services is a digital one.
