General News of Wednesday, 29 January 2025

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Afenyo-Markin under fire over 'don't deny me my slot for protocol enlistment' comment

Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin is the MP for Effutu play videoAlexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin is the MP for Effutu

The Ranking Member of the Appointments Committee of Parliament, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, has faced backlash from some Ghanaians following remarks he made during the vetting of Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, the Minister of Defence-designate.

During the committee’s sitting on January 28, 2025, and the vetting of Dr. Omane Boamah, Afenyo-Markin once again conducted his characteristic intense and thorough scrutiny of the nominee.

Among other points, the lawmaker presented documents containing Dr. Omane Boamah's social media comments and questioned him about statements he had made publicly in the four-hour process.

In an effort to ease the tense atmosphere, the Effutu Member of Parliament made a remark cautioning Dr. Omane Boamah not to retaliate against his intense vetting by denying him slots for protocol enlistment into the security services.

“Let me remind you on a lighter note, that the fact I’m grilling you doesn’t mean when you get there [ministry] and you are supposed to give protocol allocations you deny me. I'm telling you, you cannot,” he said.

His statement did not sit well with other committee members, who sought to verify whether his claims were accurate.

Afenyo-Markin stood by his assertion, clarifying that his comments referred to previous committees, where he alleged that NDC members of the committee received more protocol enlistment slots than their NPP counterparts.

“There is something like that and committee members benefitted. When I was a defence committee member, your members benefitted. I am saying it on authority, they did which they [NDC] benefitted more than the NPP members. That is a fact. Kennedy Agyapong was a chair of the defence and interior committee so I’m telling you that don’t think because I grilled you, you will not allocate a slot for me,” he boldly said.

His comments, however, have sparked public outrage on social media, with critics arguing that the lawmaker publicly exposed the corrupt practices allegedly being carried out by lawmakers.

Critics argue that the allocation of protocol slots to parliamentarians in the recruitment of security agencies amounts to corruption, condemning the lawmaker for making such statements without any accountability.

Others have raised concerns that the claims cast doubt on the integrity of the committee, criticising them for seemingly engaging in corrupt practices just hours after publicly distancing themselves from bribery allegations made by Barker-Vormawor.



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