Minister-designate for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor will take his turn before the Appointments Committee in Parliament today, Wednesday, February 24, 2021.

Samuel Abu Jinapor will be in the "hot seat" to be grilled by the members of the Committee before his approval or otherwise.

Abu Jinapor, before his appointment as Lands and Natural Resources Minister-designate, was the Deputy Chief of Staff.

He is noted as one of the hardworking and astute Deputy Chief of Staff Ghana has ever witnessed and during his tenure, executed his duties to the delight of many Ghanaians.

He held the position for four years, from 2016 to 2020, effectively assisting the two-time Chief of Staff, Frema Opare.

It is believed the President appointed Abu Jinapor for the position of Lands and Natural Resources Minister-designate due to his outstanding performance at the Presidency.

Mr Jinapor, should he scale the vetting hurdle, will be walking into a designation that has been fraught with many challenges, ranging from land degradation, deforestation with the biggest being illegal mining and many other practices that define man’s very existence on earth.

The magnitude of the task ahead of him is so huge that even some of the world’s wealthiest nations have struggled to deal with them.

There is empirical evidence to show that countries, where law enforcement is even top notch, the issue of climate change and proposed policies to deal with same, have decided the voting patterns of citizens because of the importance placed on them.

Ghana’s environmental issues transcend just policy; they are about enforcement of existing laws and regulations.

It is hoped therefore that his exceptional qualities exhibited at the Presidency will be brought to bear in this new role.

Profile

Samuel Jinapor attended the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics in 2006.

He proceeded to the University of Ghana in 2008 earning a Bachelor of Laws in 2010 and further went to read LLB at Ghana School of Law, Makola, Accra.

He also holds a Master of Laws in Alternative Dispute Resolution from the Faculty of Law, University Of Ghana.

He was called to the Ghana Bar in 2012 as a Solicitor and Barrister of the Supreme Court of Ghana.

Abu Jinapor is a brother to John Abdulai Jinapor, a former deputy Minister for Energy and Petroleum and a staunch member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

He was appointed a Deputy Chief of Staff in the year 2016 by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.