Alhaji Mubarak Muntaka advising Suhuyini Alhassan Sayibu during the vetting
A member of the Appointments Committee and National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale North, Suhunyi Alhassan Sayibu, on Monday openly complained bitterly and confronted the chairman of the Appointments Committee after overruling him (Suhunyi) out of order for asking what the chairman thought was an unfair question leveled against the Minister-designate for Energy, Boakye Agyarko.
The question was on the former employers of the Minister-designate, the Bank of New York, over an alleged money laundering scandal that hit that bank in 2005 and 2007.
The Tamale North MP had wanted to find out whether the nominee as an employee of the bank at the time of the said money laundering that led to the prosecution of some employees of the financial institution, was affected by the scandal and whether that was the reason why he left the bank.
The tone of the question did not go down well with the Appointments Committee chairman, Joseph Osei-Owusu, and the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who even said the tone of the question by the member who is a first-time MP, was not right because he said, “If indeed the nominee did work at the bank he would know about the scandal.”
Answering the ‘controversial’ question, the Minister-designate said that if Mr Suhunyi Sayibu had done his research well, he would have known that the money laundering scandal happened at the London branch of the New York Bank and not the New York branch.
According to the nominee, the Bank of New York has several branches across Europe and Latin America as well as North America and that in the New York branch, nothing of that sort happened.
Mr Boakye Agyarko therefore, wondered why the MP could bring that matter up when it was very clear that he had never been involved in any money laundering.
He wanted to know the motive of Mr Suhunyi for raising that money laundering issue.
After the answer by the nominee, the MP, who was entitled to ask three substantive questions, was stopped by the chairman of the committee from asking further questions.
This decision by the chairman infuriated the questioner to the extent that he started shouting on top of his voice, complaining that he was being treated unfairly and that everyone on the committee was elected as Member of Parliament and must not be ‘scolded’ in a way.
He continued shouting on top of his voice until the Minority Leader, Alhaji Mubarak Muntaka, came to cool him down.
The majority members on the committee also responded in a like manner, asking the enraged MP to learn the standing orders of the House well; and must know that in most cases at committee sittings, the chairman of a committee wields a lot of powers as he controls affairs.
The minority chief whip described as unfortunate the heated exchanges between the chairman and the member on the minority side – Alhassan Suhunyi.
Muntaka Mubarak stated unequivocally that the new entrant violated portions of the standing orders of parliament in attempting to grill Boakye Agyarko.
The minority chief whip would rather have the new entrants learn and quickly grasp the rules of procedure in the house in order to avoid such encounters at the vetting process.
Mr Boakye Agyarko had prior to joining the Nana Akufo-Addo campaign in 2007, worked as a senior official in the Bank of New York.
Speaking on the ‘Super Morning Show’ programme on Joy FM yesterday, the minority chief whip said his compatriot erred not just by the way he framed the question, but how he conducted himself.
Quoting Standing Order 67, part of which says, “Questions shall not contain any argument, expression of opinions, inferences, imputation, controversial, ironical or offensive expression or hypothetical statement,” Muntaka Mubarak said Suhunyi’s question had traces of inference and impugning ill motives to the nominee.
He added that while the MP’s question was not out of place, he certainly did not frame it well and was within the powers of the chairman of the committee to overrule it.
“What he said was unfortunate and I want all of us to understand, when you first go to committee you have one difficulty or the other in trying to abreast yourself with the rules.
“…If Suhunyi was conversant with the rules, the same question that he posed, he could have put it in a way; would have made it difficult for the chairman to overrule it,” he said.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr