Parliament puts Oti Bless’s appointment on hold
The hopes and aspirations of Mr John Oti Bless, the Deputy Minister-designate for Local Government and Rural Development, that Parliament would approve his nomination at the end of the second meeting yesterday were dashed.
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He was unable to forward his written apology for the purported attack he made on the Supreme Court justices before the start of business of the House yesterday.
When the Speaker asked the Deputy Majority Leader, Mr Alfred Agbesi, to talk about the business of the House, Mr Agbesi mentioned closing remarks by the leadership of the House.
Rejection
Afterwards, Mr Agbesi requested that Mr Bless be made to apologise, but the Speaker declined the request because he (the Speaker) had not seen the written apology.
Mr Bless, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nkwanta North, was nominated together with a former Executive Director of the West Africa Peace-Building Network (WANEP), Mr Emmanuel Bombande, as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, and a former District Chief Executive for Upper Manya, Mr Joseph Agmor Tetteh, as Deputy Minister for the Eastern Region.
They were vetted by the Appointments Committee of Parliament, which recommended their approval.
Petitioner
But a petitioner had asked the MPs to reject Mr Bless's nomination because of the alleged contemptuous comments he purportedly made against the justices of the Supreme Court on Montie FM’s 'Pampaso' political programme.
On Thursday night, Parliament approved the nomination of Mr Bombande and Mr Tetteh but suspended the approval of Mr Bless.
The Speaker called for the approval of the two and indicated that there were still consultations on Mr Bless’s approval.
"Honourable Members, I want the House to approve the two nominees, Emmanuel Bombande and Joseph Agmor Tetteh, because there are still consultations on certain concerns raised about the appointment of John Oti Bless," he said.
He said the approval of the nomination of the two could be carried out awaiting further consultations before the House would know Mr Bless’s fate.
