Atta Akyea: Appointments Committee Must Bow Down Its Head In Shame

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Abuakwa South and a member of the Appointments Committee of Parliament, Hon. Atta Akyea, has described as �very embarrassing and shameful�, the conduct of the committee during the vetting of Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, and two other former Leaders of the House, nominated for ministerial positions. According to the legal luminary, the exercise was full of entertainment and humour and was a disgrace to the constitution of the land. �It was an exercise for entertainment purposes and it was most embarrassing. I�m ashamed that we allowed ourselves to do such a thing like that,� he stated. What seemed to have incurred his displeasure was the overt attempts made at silencing him. Speaking in an interview on PEACEFM�s �Kokrokoo�, a clearly unenthused Atta Akyea revealed that prior to the vetting of the three former Majority Leaders, he was informed of a certain Convention, which requires members to go easy on Leaders who have been nominated for Ministerial jobs. Thus, he said, �the Chairman of the Appointments Committee, Hon. Doe Adjaho, acted like the IGP� and caused the Majority Leader to be discharged without the much expected grilling that was to have characterized his vetting. �I find some of these things most unacceptable, I was very disappointed�.I was told about some kind of funny convention that I�ve never known. But the question is, what kind of convention is that, that when somebody comes to the appointment committee, he should not be questioned and when another man comes to the committee he should be left off that easily?� he asked. According to him, the practice was discriminatory and even undermines the constitution. �I was overruled on most occasions�What kind of regimental arrangement is this? That you can ask this question, but not that question, don�t do this or that�.Are we at the military barracks or we are democrats practicing democracy?� he asked. He, however, indicated his willingness to protest the issue by raising it on the floor of the House. �We did not want to start�.; the protest will come on the floor of parliament. If I am offered the opportunity, I am going to protest to the whole House�that what happened is an embarrassment,� he told Kwami Sefa Kayi, host of the programme. The Abuakwa South NPP MP said he would have loved to hear Hon Bagbin�s reaction to the Committee set up by President Mills to review the Ex-gratia, adding that they was the need to subject the former Majority Leader to probing questions. �Hon Alban Bagbin should have been allowed to answer the question on the ex-gratia since he was then in Parliament and also met with the (Ishmael Yamson) Committee�We should find out whether he is a man who can speak his mind or whether he is going to be a bootlicker, since he was going to work with the people he once described as fair-weather friends surrounding the President,� he said. �If he even owes taxes he can go and pay, it is not a big deal, but the real issue has to do with character�I feel strong about that,� he added.