General News of Wednesday, 8 August 2018

Source: 3news.com

Akufo-Addo should be commended for sacking Energy Minister – Dep. Majority Whip

President Akufo-Addo President Akufo-Addo

First Deputy Majority Whip, Matthew Nyindam says President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ought to be commended for relieving former Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko off his duties following controversies surrounding the Ameri power deal.

President Akufo-Addo announced the sacking of Boakye Agyarko on Monday, August 6, after it emerged that the minister misled the president to give approval for a renegotiated Ameri deal.

According to the Deputy Majority Whip, who was speaking on TV3 New Day on Tuesday, August 7, the decision by the president is a bold one that many presidents may not have the courage to do.

“This is not common where you find a president saying that, look; I am taking you out because of 1, 2, 3. Sometimes, you get presidents try as much as possible to shift the goal post, but he in his wisdom thought that with this particular issue, I am taking you off and making sure that we get somebody to act until further notice.”

According to him, the Energy minister failed to ensure due diligence with regards to the Ameri deal.

“He brought a deal to parliament, and we are supposed to be the checks when it comes to the executive. When executives submit something to the legislature, parliament is supposed to do due diligence, and we saw some irregularities when they brought that particular Ameri deal, and we complained about the Attorney General not giving consent.”

He added, “Yes, for parliament to ask you to go look for certain very important documents, it is a clear indication that yes, things were not as they were to be, so I will admit that due diligence was not done when it comes to those documentation, broad consultation was not done.”.