Members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Minority Caucus on the Appointments Committee of Parliament will not participate in the vetting of the President’s nominee for the post of Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry.
A statement issued by Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, the Minority Leader, copied to the Ghana News Agency said the Caucus was affronted by the already large size of the Government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and its poor economic performance.
‘We are again unable to support this nomination by President Akufo-Addo at this time because our country has gone through (and continues to go through) very difficult periods, including the crippling economic crisis, food insecurity, debt default as a result of excessive borrowing, corruption in government and wasteful and reckless expenditures.
‘With ordinary Ghanaians going through excruciating hardships and businesses relocating from Ghana as a result of the high tax regime created by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government, one would h
ave expected the President to downsize his already large government,’ the statement said.
It added, ‘This would have sent a signal to the people that the President was mindful of the economic realities and was willing to do things differently to restore the needed confidence in the economy.’
The statement said that the President continued to nominate additional ministers to his already large-sized government at this injury time, a demonstration of a lack of appreciation of the economic mess that his government had unleashed on Ghanaians because of its bad economic policies.
It said consistent with their position announced on 17th May, the NDC Minority Caucus could not out of good conscience support the approval of this injury-time deputy minister-nominee, especially when the ‘Akufo-Addo/Bawumia Government had been reckless, wasteful and insensitive about the plight of the ordinary Ghanaian.’
‘We will not, and cannot, take part in a decision to further burden the already suffering Ghanaian, especially when
the president is unmindful of the financial consequences of his bloated Government.’
Source: Ghana News Agency