Parliament has finally approved the nomination of the deputy minister-designate for Local Government and Rural Development, John Oti Bless.
His nomination was greeted with a lot of controversies regarding his educational background and his alleged maligning of the Chief Justice on Montie Fm – an Accra-based radio station.
The Appointments Committee said it had satisfied itself with all the issues that were raised against the nominee during his vetting about four months ago.
Parliament therefore unanimously approved his nomination yesterday, paving the way for him to be sworn into office by the president, with just about two months left for the term of office of the president to end.
The committee said it verified from the nominee’s alma mater – Nkwanta Secondary School – with his results slip and a testimonial from the school indicating that he indeed attended that school.
The committee also noted that Mr Oti Bless submitted a statutory declaration as evidence to the committee that he had indeed changed his name from Kopi John Kwabena to John Oti Kwabena Bless.
It also said in its report that the nominee did not do his national service that the time because he had won the parliamentary election to become an MP for Nkwanta North in the Volta Region on the ticket of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The committee said the nominee, therefore, submitted an exemption certificate from the National Service Scheme to relieve him from the service obligation.
The Minority New Patriotic Party, making reference to the comments the appointee made on Montie FM, thought that he did not deserve the position.
Three other persons, Godwin Ako-Gunn, Alistair Nelson and Salifu Maase aka Mugabe, who made similar spurious remarks about the Chief Justice and justices of the Supreme Court, were imprisoned after they were found guilty of contempt of court.
Oti Bless later expressed remorse and issued an unqualified apology to the judiciary.
The issue of his approval resurfaced on October 20, 2016 on the floor of parliament but the minority kicked against it due to the fact that only a few parliamentarians were available to discuss the issue.
Mr Oti Bless, who was not present at the time of his approval, later told journalists that he was happy that parliament had eventually approved his nomination.
He added that “today is a great day, a day of praise unto God for the great things He has done. God is indeed a true God and a wonderful God that has to be praised everyday every time.
“So what I can say is to give thanks to God that that responsibility has been bestowed on me and within this short period I’ll do my best.”
By Thomas Fosu Jnr