Minority Stages Walkout As Parliament Approves New Ministers

Parliament has approved the nominations of Herbert Krapah as the Minister of State for the Energy Ministry and Kofi Ahenkorah Marfo as the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry.

President Akufo-Addo, last week nominated the Deputy Energy Minister to be a Minister of State at the Energy Ministry after the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, selected the Energy Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh as his running mate.

The Majority Leader therefore requested the House to fast-track some of the processes in place to ensure vacuum is not created at the ministry.

However, the Minority did not agree arguing that the incumbent Energy Minister was still at post.

Today, this issue came back to the fore. Subsequently, the Appointments Committee recommended his approval.

However, the approval was one-sided as the Minority staged a walkout ahead of the vote, claiming that President Akufo-Addo’s nominations bloat the government size and increase government expenditure.

The Minority caucus had earlier boycotted the vetting of the designated ministers by the Appointments Committee over similar concerns.

The Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, denied claims that the government is bloating its size amid an economic crisis.