Deputy Minister designate for Foreign Affairs Ministry, Thomas Mbomba
The 9th batch of Deputy Ministerial nominees on Monday, 14 June 2021 appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament for vetting in accordance with the Constitutional provision which requires prior approval by Parliament of the President’s nominees.
First, to face the Committee was Thomas Mbomba who is heading to the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
The MP for Tatale/Sanguli vowed to assist the substantive Minister to achieve the fundamental principles that guide Ghana’s foreign policy and establishment of a just and equitable international, economic, political, and mutually beneficial cooperation with both developing and industrialized countries especially Ghana’s immediate neighbours.
He holds MBA (Human Resource Management) and BA (Socio/Political Science) and was a former District Chief Executive as well as Operations Manager of Ghana Post Company Limited and belongs to the Youth, Sports, and Culture, House as well as Members Holding Offices of Profit Committees of the House.
Next to appear was the Member of Parliament for Binduri Abdulai Abanga who is heading to the Works and Housing Ministry.
The former Municipal Chief Executive for Bawku Central is a Chartered accountant and holds a Master’s degree in Development Finance and a Bachelor of Commerce degree.
He had worked at the Millennium Challenge Account where he assisted in the growth of the Agricultural sector before being appointed a year after by former President Agyekum Kufuor as the MCE for Bawku.
The Deputy Minister-designate said the reasons for Ghana’s housing deficit is due to the failure of successive governments to continue projects started by their predecessors, adding rural-urban migration as one of the factors and pledged to assist the Minister to complete existing projects.
Deputy Minister-designate for Health Mahama Asei Seini, MP for Daboya/Mankarigu Constituency in Savanna Region holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Law and is a Member of Parliament’s Gender and Children as well as Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs Committees.
He informed the Committee he is not privy to information on some 75 projects under Agenda 111. The nominee submitted that the demand and supply of the Sputnik vaccines was the reason for the need to approach a middleman in Ghana’s transaction with a Russian company.
The Committee lauded him for addressing the health, water, and educational challenges in his constituency and for providing 40 boreholes to some communities which are his personal initiatives.
The last nominee to appear before the Committee and heading to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture was the second-term MP for Nantong Mohammed, Hardi Tuferu.
He obtained an M.B.A in Accounting from the University of Ghana Business School, B.A Commerce from the Cape Coast University and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants as well as the Institute of Internal Auditors.
The nominee promised to leverage agribusiness to provide employment to the youth to resolve the high rate of unemployment.
He said he is a smallholder farmer of about 40-45 acres, gets about 60 bags of maize, and has been farming for close to 16 years. He lamented the high cost of maize currently being sold at GHc200.
The nominee concurred with the Committee’s suggestion that the government has not aided farmers to get mechanized equipment to increase productivity and assured to endeavour to promote soya bean and rice for the northern parts of the country and also address the high rate of sugar importation.