Governance Watch Alliance, a pro-democracy group advancing the cause of the rule of law, has petitioned the Appointments Committee of Ghana’s Eight Parliament over the credibility of some Ministers-designate, saying they should not be approved to serve in the government.

They said some public officials were given the opportunity to serve in the first term of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led administration but failed to live up to expectation.

“They demonstrated a high level of incompetence and ineptitude in the discharge of their duties which cost the country in many ways.

“We believe they must not be given the opportunity to serve in such a high office again,” the Alliance appealed in a petition jointly signed by Mr. Patrick Kwame Atuah, the President, Mr. Joshua Fugah, the General-Secretary, and Mr. Yakubu Moro, the Director of Research.

The petition, a copy made available to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Kumasi, cited Mr. Ken Ofori Atta, Minister-designate for Finance; Mr. Albert Kan Dapaah, Minister-designate for National Security; Mr. Dominic Nitiwul, Minister-designate for Defence; and Dr. Afriyie Akoto, Minister-designate for Food and Agriculture.

The others include Ms. Ursula Owusu Ekuful, Minister-designate for Communication; Ms. Hawa Koomson, Minister-designate for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development; Mr. Godfred Dame, Minister-designate for Justice and Attorney-General; as well as Mr. Kwasi Amoako-Atta, Minister-designate for Roads and Highways.

The petition stressed the need for the Vetting Committee to subject the Ministers-designate to critical scrutiny in relation to their various conducts while at their respective portfolios when they make an appearance.

Touching on the revelations as contained in the Corruption Risk Assessment Report conducted by the Special Prosecutor’s Office on the ‘Agyapa Deal’, the Alliance said the direct involvement of Mr. Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister then in the whole saga was unfortunate.

The petition on the eligibility of Mr. Kan Dapaah, cited the Takoradi missing girls’ saga as well as the murder of undercover investigative journalist, Ahmed Suame, stressing that the failure of the then National Security Minister to deal effectively with the issue was a testimony of his incompetence.

It indicated that the Defence Minister-designate in the analysis of the Alliance could also not pass the litmus test, because under his watch “the military has been heavily involved in illegal mining activities of which there are video evidence to that effect.”

“Mr. Nitiwul as the Minister of Defence witnessed for the first time in the history of the Fourth Republic, the invasion of the Chamber of Parliament by fully-armed military personnel, which brought shame to the country,” the petition noted.

It accused the Minister-designate for Agriculture of supervising the collapse of the poultry industry due to his inefficiencies, saying the Ghanaian farmer today was struggling to come by maize, soya, wheat brand and other materials needed for poultry feed.

The petition did not leave out Ms. Koomsom for what it described as “her emotional temperaments and personal conduct which are full of insults and not deserving of somebody expected to occupy that high office”.

Focusing on the Minister-designate for Communication, the petition said Ms. Owusu Ekuful during her tenure saw a loss to the state of over eighty million US Dollars of the taxpayer’s money as a result of the ‘Kelni GVG’ deal.

“We appeal to the Appointments Committee not to approve or recommend her nomination. This would enable a review of the ‘Kelni GVG’ contract in the interest of the nation,” the petition appealed.