Minority to block Oti Bless's appointment over Montie 3 comments

Enoch Darfah Frimpong Politics Aug - 01 - 2016 , 12:19

The Minority in Parliament have initiated moves to block the appointment of Mr Kwabena John Bless Oti as a Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development following a revelation that he was part of the Montie FM panel on the day contemptuous statements were made about some Supreme Court judges.

Mr Bless Oti who is the Member of Parliament for Nkwanta North in the Volta region is scheduled to be given the green light by Parliament today [Monday] for the President to go ahead and swear him into office following an earlier clearance by Parliament's Appointment Committee last week.

However, on the floor of Parliament on Monday, the matter was raised and the Minority Leader said the comments were in bad taste especially coming from a Member of Parliament.

He said “The language was disparaging to the Justices” and that the words used were “unprintable” especially coming from "a Member of Parliament, taking the Justices of the Supreme Court to the cleaners without any iota of evidence.”

Mr Oti Bless is said to have alleged that the Chief Justice was engaged in partisan politics in em-paneling judges for cases.

An audio recording from one of the 'Pampaso' programme on Montie FM following which three people have been jailed four months each for contempt emerged last week after the case.

Mr Oti Bless was said to have made the comments, spurred on by Allistair Nelson, Godwin Ako Gunn and the host of the programme Salifu Maase who were on Wednesday jailed four months by the Supreme Court for their contemptous comments.

The voice on the audio, said to be that of the Member of Parliament who just went through parliamentary vetting last week and was yet to be confirmed, suggested that the Chief Justice was engaged in partisan politics.