Eight ministerial appointees had a virtual walk through the vetting process in Parliament last Friday after the Minority caucus walked out of the proceedings during the vetting of Foreign Minister designate, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
The vetting of the eight, including the Minister of State in charge of Government Communication, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, all happened within about four hours, less than the period Mr Ablakwa had been in the seat.
Others vetted during the period were the Ahafo Regional Minister designate, Charity Gardiner; the Savannah Regional Minister designate, Be-Awuribe Issifu; the Western North Regional Minister designate, Wilbert Petty Brentum; the Western Regional Minister designate, Joseph Nelson; the Bono Regional Minister, Joseph Addae Akwaboa; the Bono East Regional Minister designate, Francis Owusu Antwi, and the Upper West Regional Minister designate, Puozuing Charles Lwanga.
The more than five hours of vetting of Mr Ablakwa was halted briefly when the leadership of Parliament conveyed the message of the suspension of four Members of Parliament (MPs) by the Speaker to the Chairman of the Appointments Committee, Bernard Ahiafor.
The Speaker had taken action to suspend the members following the chaos of last Thursday’s sitting of the committee that resulted in the damage of logistics of Parliament.
It was the understanding of the Minority caucus, led by Minority Leader and Ranking Member of the Appointments Committee, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, that the Speaker, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, had ordered the reconstitution of the committee.
The caucus, therefore, requested that the committee halt sitting until the committee was reconstituted.
When the Chairman of the committee overruled the request, the Minority caucus walked out, boycotting the rest of the proceedings.
Western North
During the vetting sessions that followed, the Minister designate for Western North Region, Mr Brentum, indicated that the high cost of legalising and formalising small-scale mining over the years had contributed to the devastating impact of illegal mining, popularly known as “galamsey”.
Wilbert Petty Brentum, Minister designate, Western North Region, answering questions before the Appointments Committee of Parliament, Joseph Nelson, Minister designate, Western Region, swearing an oath before the Appointments Committee, Joseph Addae Akwaboa, Minister designate, Bono Region, answering questions before the Appointments Committee of Parliament
Mr Brentum called for a review of the cost of legalising and formalising the small-scale mining industry to make it less expensive.
He argued that this decision would attract a lot of persons and companies engaged in illegal mining to obtain the necessary licences and to follow the right processes in the extractive sector to address the galamsey menace.
“We must make formalisation and legalisation of small-scale mining less expensive, and that will attract people to formalise or legalise their operations.
“There is a law to that; the Small-Scale Mining Act 2006 (Act 703) spells out the modalities for the acquisition of mining licences, and through the Minerals Commission the same statute requires them to provide extension services to small-sale miners,” he stated.
The minister designate emphasised that the failure of previous governments and the nation as a whole was not because they were not able to stop artisanal small-scale mining, but rather their inability to manage the sector well.
Assessment
Mr Brentum also called for formal dialogue with stakeholders in the mining sector, adding that the miners at a formal dialogue session would be able to tease out the challenges they faced and outline the right solutions to address the challenges of the sector.
Collaboration
At his vetting, the minister designate for Western Region, Mr Nelson, said collaborative efforts must be made to address environmental problems and illegal mining in the region.
He expressed preparedness to work with the Minster of Lands and Natural Resources and the Minister of Environment, Science and Technology to ensure that “our environment and the quality of our water in that environment come to an acceptable level”.
He added that the biggest problem the region faced was improper regulation of the mining sector.
He also affirmed that frequent deaths of miners attributed to “a shoot to kill” strategy adopted to handle the illegal miners would not hold under his tenure as the Chairman of the Regional Security Council.
Empowerment
The Ahafo Regional Minister designate, Mrs Gardiner, lauded President John Mahama for the Women’s Bank Policy, saying it would serve as the right social policy for women in her region to expand their businesses.
She added that she would institute an education and sensitisation programme for women in her region to empower young girls and women who intended to venture into business to ensure they did not run at a loss but contributed profitably to the development of the economy.