...After secretly agreeing to reject Fiifi`s appointment
Posted: The Chronicle Tuesday, March 31, 2009
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Though he admits that in democracy Majority always carry the vote, Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Suame Constituency, Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu believes that in the case of the approval of Mr. Fiifi Kwetey as a Deputy Minister of Finance, the Majority in Parliament did a lot of disservice to themselves and the nation. 
According to him, the Majority National Democratic Congress (NDC) members themselves admitted that Mr. Fiifi Kwetey was not a man of integrity, and yet they went ahead to approve of his nomination.
In a telephone interview with this Reporter, the
Minority Leader noted that during the vetting of Mr. Fiifi Kwetey, the latter made certain statements which raised a lot of questions about his integrity.
This, according to him, compelled some members on the majority side, who spoke to him on phone, while some even proceeded to his office to admit that what the Minority said about the nominee was the truth, given the deputy Finance Minister’s performance at the vetting before the Appointments Committee, and they gave him their assurance to vote against Fiife Kwetey.
“Yet, when it came to the crunch, they all chickened out, that to me is unfortunate on the part of all those who came to give me their assurance”, he emphasised.
Commenting on Fiifi Kwetey’s statement that if given the opportunity he will do what he did again and again, referring to his propaganda peddling role when the NDC was in opposition, Mr. Kyei Mensah Bonsu noted “if it is difficult for him to reconcile himself with the truth, then its going to be difficult for such a person to be Deputy Minister, particularly at the Ministry of Finance, after alleging that all the gold reserves have disappeared and that the NPP government had them.”
For him therefore, “such a person is not a man of integrity and that is what we were really concerned about”. For this reason, he trusted the Majority would have done the right thing by voting against the approval of the man in question, but at the end of the day they decided to give him the nod.
Meanwhile, a source close to the Majority in Parliament has confided in The Chronicle that their decision to vote in favour of Fiifi Kwetey’s nomination was informed by the fact that they did not want to be seen to be undermining the authority of the President who made the nomination.
According to the source, any such move would have constituted an affront to President Mills’ integrity. Due to this, though some of them were against the behaviour put up by Fiifi Kwetey before the Appointments Committee during his vetting, they could not but pass him to suit the will of the President.
Fiifi Kwetey’s nomination as Deputy Minister of Finance was approved by Parliament last week by a vote of 117 for and 106 against.
This was after several weeks of political manoeuvres and back and forth lobbying to strike a compromise deal between the Majority NDC and Minority NPP.
According to him, the Majority National Democratic Congress (NDC) members themselves admitted that Mr. Fiifi Kwetey was not a man of integrity, and yet they went ahead to approve of his nomination.
In a telephone interview with this Reporter, the
Minority Leader noted that during the vetting of Mr. Fiifi Kwetey, the latter made certain statements which raised a lot of questions about his integrity.This, according to him, compelled some members on the majority side, who spoke to him on phone, while some even proceeded to his office to admit that what the Minority said about the nominee was the truth, given the deputy Finance Minister’s performance at the vetting before the Appointments Committee, and they gave him their assurance to vote against Fiife Kwetey.
“Yet, when it came to the crunch, they all chickened out, that to me is unfortunate on the part of all those who came to give me their assurance”, he emphasised.
Commenting on Fiifi Kwetey’s statement that if given the opportunity he will do what he did again and again, referring to his propaganda peddling role when the NDC was in opposition, Mr. Kyei Mensah Bonsu noted “if it is difficult for him to reconcile himself with the truth, then its going to be difficult for such a person to be Deputy Minister, particularly at the Ministry of Finance, after alleging that all the gold reserves have disappeared and that the NPP government had them.”
For him therefore, “such a person is not a man of integrity and that is what we were really concerned about”. For this reason, he trusted the Majority would have done the right thing by voting against the approval of the man in question, but at the end of the day they decided to give him the nod.
Meanwhile, a source close to the Majority in Parliament has confided in The Chronicle that their decision to vote in favour of Fiifi Kwetey’s nomination was informed by the fact that they did not want to be seen to be undermining the authority of the President who made the nomination.
According to the source, any such move would have constituted an affront to President Mills’ integrity. Due to this, though some of them were against the behaviour put up by Fiifi Kwetey before the Appointments Committee during his vetting, they could not but pass him to suit the will of the President.
Fiifi Kwetey’s nomination as Deputy Minister of Finance was approved by Parliament last week by a vote of 117 for and 106 against.
This was after several weeks of political manoeuvres and back and forth lobbying to strike a compromise deal between the Majority NDC and Minority NPP.
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