Johnson Asiedu Nketia
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has appointed the General Secretary of NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, to the Parliamentary Service Board.
The six-member Board has MP for Suame, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Tamale South MP Haruna Iddrisu, former Majority leader Abraham Osei Adu, former MP for Wenchi West, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the Clerk to Parliament and the Speaker who doubles as chairman.
On Monday, March 29, 2021, the Speaker announced to the House his decision to appoint the individuals who make up the Board.
“If you recall, there was an outstanding issue I drew the attention of the House to. In fact, it was the deputy Minority leader who drew the attention of the House to the fact that the Parliamentary Service Board was not yet in place. I wanted to know why and the explanation was that the advice that this House was to give me has not yet been communicated to me. I now have in my hand, the advice of the House. The advice is to the effect that the Committee after a long period of discussion submits for the appointments the names of the following persons…” according to him.
‘Undesired Intrusion’
The appointment of Mr. Asiedu Nketia has however been met with agitation.
A number of the members of the Advisory Committee, have told the Speaker that the appointment of the NDC’s General Secretary on the Board “may amount to an undesired intrusion into the governance of Parliament by a political party and may not in the circumstances bode well for the independence of parliament since he [Asiedu Nketa] is the General Secretary of a major political party.”
However, Mr. Bagbin, who is himself an NDC member, argued that only authority prescribed by law to appoint members of the Board allows that Asiedu Nketia be appointed as a member.
In justifying his decision on political grounds, he said a former MP for New Juaben North, Hackman Owusu Agyeman was in the past, appointed a member of the Board despite being a part of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Hence, he said, “what is good for the gander is also good for the goose.”
By Melvin Tarlue