The Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has expressed dissatisfaction with the actions of the Chairman of the Appointments Committee, Bernard Ahiafor, during the vetting of ministerial nominees.
The dispute arose when Afenyo-Markin raised concerns about addressing the appointments of Chief Executive Officers and Managing Directors. However, the Majority argued that such discussions were outside the scope of the ministerial vetting process.
The vetting of Kwame Governs Agbodza, the minister-designate for Roads and Highways, was slated to begin at 10:00 AM. However, disagreements delayed proceedings, and as of 11:54 AM, the session had yet to commence.
The meeting was briefly suspended for five minutes to resolve the disruptions, but tensions persisted.
Afenyo-Markin accused his colleagues, including the Deputy Speaker, of exhibiting rude behaviour and criticized the chairman for proceeding in bad faith. He alleged that the vetting session resumed after the suspension, even though members of the Minority were not present.
“Chairman, don’t raise your voice, you suspended sitting for 5 minutes. You had called me and I said I was having a meeting with my caucus. I will join you, then the next moment you start. I want to register this protest that you have proceeded in bad faith.
“It’s not the understanding we had. I was responding to a point of order, you came in rudely to say you have ruled. Bring down your voice chairman, you are raising your voice. Mr. Chairman all your colleagues including you have been rude to me this morning. You have been very rude.
“The rate at which I’m being interrupted is unacceptable. The chairman rudely interrupted me.”
He apologized to the Chair following objections raised regarding his outburst.
