The nominees included Julius Debrah as Eastern regional minister; Dr. Avea Ephraim Nsoh, for Upper East Region, and Helen Adjoa Ntoso, Volta Region.
They formed the seventh batch of nominees approved by the House, bringing the total number of President Mahama’s ministers endorsed by the Legislature so far to 34.
Presenting their report on the nominees for parliamentary approval, Appointments Committee Chairman and First Deputy Speaker Ebo Barton-Odro, indicated his committee had carried out its work diligently.
According to him, the committee was satisfied that the three nominees fully met the requirements of the constitution, recommending the House to approve them by consensus.
However, minority caucus of the House again refrained from the approval process due to its decision to boycott all activities related to President Mahama which it considered transient and stood terminated should the Supreme Court declare election null and void.
New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs had been disassociating themselves from ministerial vetting because the main opposition party in the 2012 general elections was challenging the legitimacy of President Mahama at the highest court of the land.
The three approved nominees were referred to the Appointments Committee by the Speaker, Edward Doe Adjaho, on Tuesday February 19 for consideration and report.
Names of the nominees were subsequently published in the media in accordance with Order 172 (3) of the Standing Orders of the House for memoranda from the general public.
Appearing before the House, the nominees answered questions relating to their records in their various fields of endeavour, the challenges at their new portfolios and other serious issues of national concern such as peace and security.
They all pledged to discharge their duties diligently to bring significant improvement to the regions they had been assigned to.
For instance, Eastern regional ministerial nominee Julius Debrah had described the phenomenon of illegal scale mining popularly known as ‘galamsey’ as a menace which he would tackle with urgency.
He promised to collaborate with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Minerals Commission as well as Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) and other stakeholders to fight against ‘galamsey’ operations in the region.
Mr. Debrah called for restructuring of the operation of small scale mining in order to bring sanity into the mining sector.
 By Awudu Mahama
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