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Ajoa Yeboah-Afari
Ajoa Yeboah-Afari

Otiko Djaba vetting: a case of NDC moving the goalposts?

Had it not been for the appearance of Otiko Afisa djaba before the Appointments Committee of Parliament, I would never have guessed that there are senior people in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) who disapprove of abuse, and elders and statesmen being insulted.

But apparently there are. Then where were they when during the 2016 electioneering the then presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and now President of Ghana, Nana Akufo- Addo, was the ‘chewing stick’ in the mouths of some NDC bigwigs, spokespersons and members ever y blessed day? Last Friday, February 3, the approval of Ms Djaba’s appointment as Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection had to be suspended because of the vehement objection of the Minority in Parliament, the NDC.

As reported extensively, the stand of the Minority members on the Committee, led by the Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, was that they could not support Ms Djaba's approval because she didn’t do the mandatory National Service. She had also refused to apologise for offensive comments about President John Mahama.

Thus, to them, she didn’t have “the attitude and temperament” for that office. Ms Djaba said during the vetting that for a period she had been in exile in the UK with her father. She could not do National Service because she had been outside the country at the time.

The Minority’s position, Mr Iddrisu said, was because Ms Djaba had refused to withdraw, apologise or show remorse. With such an attitude and “temperament”, the Minority members could not be assured that Ms Djaba would come up with good policies to support the aged and children.

However, the Majority MPs argued that National Service was not a mandatory requirement for a person to qualify to be a minister. Furthermore, Majority Leader Mr Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu told journalists that there had been precedents in Parliament when people who had not done National Service had been approved as ministers of state. What is interesting about the stance of the Minority is the fact that everybody who followed the 2016 campaign knows that it was usually full of invectives. Of course insults are not acceptable.

However, it seemed as if the politicians had come to an understanding that insults were their ‘salt’ for the campaign, despite public disquiet and concerns by some civil society groups. The ‘Issues, not insults’ project of the Media Foundation for West Africa comes to mind.

Why then penalise someone for campaign trail behaviour which the NDC, too, were very guilty of ? Why does it seem that in Ms Djaba’s case, the NDC had moved the goalposts? Was it a matter of shifting the goalposts when it comes to an assertive woman?

Because a fearless woman must be taught a lesson? Moreover, if anybody had cause to complain, surely it was Mr Akufo- Addo more so than the then President, John Ma hama.

At least with President Mahama one could say that the NPP insults related to his performance as President, especially the state of the economy, the energ y crisis and the escalating cost of living. But with Mr Akufo-Addo who can forget how personal and ugly the NDC made it? 

The invectives were not only about his height, his looks and even his accent; as well as even wild accusations of criminality. I don’t recall that at any point during the campaign, the NDC leadership came out to publicly distance themselves from the unrelenting Akufo-Addo disrespect, to check their members.

Even when the Montie FM panellists were convicted of contempt by the Supreme Court for certain statements and sentenced to jail, shockingly, NDC ministers and appointees trooped in to sign a petition for President Mahama to free them.

Evidently, it was Ms Djaba’s refusal to apologise or retract, notably that President Mahama was evil; his perfor mance was an embarrassment to Northerners (of which she is one), which so enraged the Minority. She said: “The President is my brother and I spoke from my convictions. I made the statements as a wake-up call for him. We are building a nation. He was running for re-election and I felt that the people who should tell him as it is were not telling him as it was.” 

Interestingly, the Minority didn’t ask her to clarify the above statements, as I expected. Neither did they challeng e her assertion that “the Chiefs of the North actually made that statement” (that President Mahama was an embarrassment) “and so I don’t owe him, or you, any apology …“It was not an insult. It was a criticism and I am allowed as a citizen of Ghana to criticise the President.”

Regarding Mr Iddrisu’s curious statement, is the Ministry of Gender, Social Protection and Children the only one in the countr y that has the aged and children under it? If other ministers can initiate good policies for everybody, including the aged and children, despite no reference to their “temperament” why that presumption about her?

Then there was this baffling question from Mr J. Yieleh Chireh (NDC, Wa West): “When did you last speak to your mother.” If the nominee isn’t on good terms with her mother, would that be enough reason to conclude that she wouldn’t make a good Minister?

If it were an issue of proof of her not being competent to handle the job, it would be a different matter, but I note that none of the opponents were talking about competence. 

However, it was the right of the Minority to object to the nominee’s appointment. But it was also her right to refuse to be cowed into submission. Indeed, Mr Iddrisu’s bearing and attitude towards Ms Djaba made him sound like a prosecutor grilling along sought suspect!

Thanks to the NPP’s majority seats in Parliament, although the Minority reportedly abstained from the voting, Ms Djaba’s nomination was approved and she was sworn into office by President Akufo-Addo on Tuesday. 

I believe that the historic vetting ordeal she went through will provide another catalyst for her to demonstrate that she was a good choice by the President. Surely, when she relives the ordeal, Ms Djaba will be able to look herself in the mirror, confident that she didn’t let herself, her party or President Akufo-Addo down.

Otiko Afisa Djaba, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, I commended your spirit that day; and I salute you again.

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