The minority in Parliament has opposed the approval of Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah as the Minister-Designate for Lands and Natural Resources.
The caucus attributed their reason to the nominee’s refusal to retract or apologise for comments he made regarding former President Akufo-Addo’s final State of the Nation Address on January 3, 2025.
When the nominee appeared before the committee to be vetted, he was confronted with the remarks he made about the government led by former President Akufo-Addo and asked to apologise.
But he refused on the grounds that he did not disrespect the former president and that his remarks resonated with the majority of Ghanaians.
The minority has therefore refused to approve the nominee.
However, the Appointments Committee, by a majority decision, has recommended his approval by the House.
Background
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Ellembele in the Western region, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, criticised President Akufo-Addo’s performance in the last eight years.
He described Akufo-Addo’s government as the worst in history.
The lawmaker made these remarks in parliament after the president’s last State of the Nation Address to Parliament on Friday, January 3.
“This abysmal record was confirmed on December 7th when the people of Ghana delivered the most overwhelming and emphatic vote of rejection any government has ever witnessed in the Fourth Republic,” he added.
“Mr. President, you will be remembered as the first president who was cautioned by the IMF when you began, and you are still being cautioned at the end of your term. You left something very important in your account—you left out an account of your promise to God to build a cathedral. But, Mr. President, I will leave that between you and your God,” he added.
When appearing before the committee and asked to apologise, he responded, saying, ”I have enormous respect for President Akufo-Addo and any president that will occupy this highest seat of the land because the decisions they are confronted with are enormous and grave, and so I don’t take that lightly at all. As Deputy Minority Leader, I had a duty that day, and I believe those were words that resonated with the people of Ghana. If there were words that came out that sounded in any way disrespectful, I would regret it because the intention was never to disrespect the president at all. It was simply to talk about the government of the day…Obviously, there were very good things that were done that you can talk about that were right, obviously. But I was reflecting the views of the people of Ghana, who felt that they had gone through so much hardship, and that’s why the reference was to his government and not him.”
The NPP insisted and asked if the nominee would apologise; upon deep reflection that some of his words were harsh, he responded, saying,’I think I have answered it very well that if there are words that can convey the exact things that I said that in your view are better words than what I said, then maybe you can give me another opportunity; I can use those words.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
