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 Mr Osei Bonsu Amoah (right), Deputy Minister-designate for Local Government and Rural Development, taking the oath when he appeared before the appointments committee
Mr Osei Bonsu Amoah (right), Deputy Minister-designate for Local Government and Rural Development, taking the oath when he appeared before the appointments committee

Appointments C’ttee vetting - O.B. Amoah rejects bribery claim

A deputy Minister designate for Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Osei Bonsu Amoah, has rejected claims of receiving GH¢75,000 bribe from the businessman, Mr Alfred Agbesi Woyome, who is at the centre of the GH¢51 million judgement debt saga.

Mr Amoah, who was a Deputy Minister of Education, Science and Sports in the erstwhile Kufuor administration when Woyome was involved in a stadium construction contract in 2008, denied ever being indicted over allegations of bribery.

Denied allegations

He rejected the claims in an answer to a question when he appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament yesterday.

Mr Amoah further denied the involvement of the Kufuor administration in any underhand dealings in the contract, stressing: “I have never been indicted.”

“I have never collected GH¢75,000 from Woyome and never in my life have I seen that amount of money,” the nominee, who is the Member of Parliament for Akuapim South, added.

According to him, the police and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) investigated the matter when the allegations were first made and no truth was established, which confirmed his suspicion that those allegations had been politically motivated.

Recreational parks

Answering a question on what support he would give his minister to revive the once vibrant recreational parks in the country, including the Aburi Botanical Gardens, Mr Amoah stressed the need for public-private partnerships to revive the parks.

He said there was a programme in place to revive recreational parks across the country and indicated that the sector Minister, Hajia Alima Mahama, had been involved in the process and pledged his support for it.

On the election of metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs), Mr Amoah said the 1992 Constitution made provision for the election of officers at the district assembly level, such as presiding and assembly members, and, therefore, to have MMDCEs elected was in the right direction.

He said the time had come for the major political parties — the NDC and the NPP — to agree on the election of MMDCEs and how to go about it.

Common Fund

The deputy minister designate disagreed with suggestions that the cut in the allocation of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) would deprive the assemblies of resources, arguing that with more projects to be rolled out, including the one district, one factory policy, the assemblies would not be short-changed.

Mr Amoah said it was important to enhance the capacity of administrators of the district assemblies to raise resources at the local level, without depending solely on the DACF.

He served notice to incoming MMDCEs to prepare for the task head, saying that there was a lot to do and, therefore, they should not consider their appointment as a tea party.

Deputy Transport Minister designate

The next to appear before the committee was the Deputy Minister designate for Transport, Mr Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover, who spoke about the government’s commitment to expand the ports to create jobs for the people.

He said he would partner his minister to protect the terms of engagement of casual workers at the ports and, if possible, regularise their relationship with the ports.

He was hopeful about prospects of the public transport system in the country, saying that with the right leadership in place, the various public transport organisations, such as the State Transport Company Limited, could regain their past glory.

Mr Titus-Glover, who is the MP for Tema East, said he would love to see the revival of the Tema Shipyard and Drydock and pledged his support for the sector minister to make that happen.

Deputy Education Minister designate

Taking her turn to be vetted, a Deputy Minister of Education designate, Mrs Barbara Asher Ayisi, said she would work closely with the sector minister to pursue the policy of increasing more girl child enrolment in schools.

She expressed regret at the spate of teenage pregnancy among schoolgirls, and in an answer to a question, said she would work with the Minister of Gender and Social Protection and non-governmental organisations on sensitisation programmes to help reduce teenage pregnancy among students.

Mrs Ayisi, who is the MP for Cape Coast North, stressed the need for especially schools in the rural areas to focus on the school feeding programme, as poverty had become a barrier to school enrolment.

 

The nominee said instituting an awards scheme to encourage girls to go into Science and Mathematics education was the way to go. 

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