General News of Thursday, 30 January 2025

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Appointments Committee members received monies from Chief of Staff - Joe Wise confirms

Joseph Osei-Owusu is the former First Deputy Speaker in parliament Joseph Osei-Owusu is the former First Deputy Speaker in parliament

The former First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, has provided insights into how members of the Appointments Committee receive payments to facilitate their work.

Speaking in an interview on JoyNews on January 29, 2025, Osei-Owusu, affectionately known as Joe Wise, recalled his time as Chairman of the Appointments Committee.

He shared that the Chief of Staff typically provides committee members with money, usually after they have vetted ministerial nominees, acknowledging that these monetary payments were intended to facilitate the committee’s work smoothly and efficiently.

According to the former Member of Parliament for Bekwai, such actions should not be linked to or described as bribery. He expressed his strong disapproval of such claims.

Joe Wise further explained that the payments from the Chief of Staff do not influence or sway the committee’s decision-making during the vetting and subsequent approval of ministerial nominees, emphasising that these payments do not give any nominee an unfair advantage.

“When I joined the Appointments Committee, most of the time at the close of our work, the Chief of Staff would bring money to the members of the committee. It's like facilitating our work. I wonder why anybody could link that to bribery. How can it be influence peddling? It does not give advantage or disadvantage to anybody,” he said.

The former lawmaker’s comments come amid controversy surrounding the Appointments Committee, following serious bribery allegations made against the committee by social activist Oliver Barker-Vormawor.

Meanwhile, Barker-Vormawor has since apologized and he did so with an assurance that he would delete the post which incurred the spleen of the committee members.





MAG/EK

Watch as Ahmed Ibrahim says Ghanaians agree that MMDCEs must be elected on non-partisan basis