'I Couldn’t Sleep On That Day'

Reverend Dr. Kwesi Owusu Bi, whose nomination as Deputy Minister was blocked by the Appointments Committee of Parliament has observed that the Committee did not treat him fairly because he told the truth and nothing but the truth, when he appeared before it. The Freddie Blay Chaired Appointments Committee disqualified the nominee on the grounds that he was not consistent and truthful in his submissions before the Committee during his vetting and therefore could not be cleared to handle a deputy Ministerial position.

The Minority leader, Hon. Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin was blunt in his submission on the disqualification of the nominee when he said, “we need to know the kind of pastor we are dealing with.” In an interview with The Chronicle yesterday the Reverend Minister of God who was on the verge of assuming additional position as Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and PSI could not resist pouring out his frustration and disappointment following his disqualification by the Committee.

“If I say I was able to sleep on the day my disqualification was announced, I will be telling lies. I could not sleep because I could not understand why I was disqualified after I have told the Committee the truth on all matters,” the Reverend Minister ranted and consistently mentioned the minority leader in his submission giving clues to his conviction that Hon. Bagbin could have been a major cause of his disqualification. It is believed that what caused the disqualification of the nominee was a controversy over some ¢30million that was given to him by the Upper Denkyira District Assembly as part payment for the construction of a teachers bungalow in one of the towns in the District.

The nominee was questioned whether he actually received that said amount and whether he returned the money to the Assembly after the projected could not be executed. He told the Committee that he returned the money on his own volition, but the Committee later submitted that the nominee had not been truthful to it on the issue. Another matter was whether the nominee had ever been an Assembly and Presiding Member of the Assembly and the Committee thought that his responses to these issues were inconsistent.

Rev. Owusu Bi, however, declared he could not understand what the Committee expected from him especially on the ¢30million issue. He said he after taking the money for a research into how the building project could be executed, the research latter failed and he refunded the money. “When you take money for a research and the research fails you are not even required to refund the money. A lot of people have received monies for research into a cure for HIVC/AIDS but so far no cure has been obtained, do those researchers have to refund the monies they received for the research. But even in my case, I did not keep the money but refunded it so I don’t know what the Committee required from me on this matter,” the disqualified nominee fumed.

“I was asked whether I have been a Presiding Member before and I said no, but when you read a publication in the Graphic it says that the Committee claims that its investigations later revealed that I had been a Presiding Member before, but that is not true,” Reverend Owusu Bi further charged. Asked whether he would appeal against the decision of the Appointments Committee, the disqualified nominee said he was not conversant with the procedures and noted that if he got himself well informed about what options were opened to him, he would then take a decision. “You see I have to consult with a few people then I will know what decision to take. Some times if you rash in taking certain decisions, you may be perceived as challenging authority,” he stated.

He told The Chronicle that he would be holding a Press conference tomorrow at the Ayeduase School park near the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi to let the public know that he did not lie to the Committee and also establish his innocence as a man of God. Though he did not want to reveal the details of what he will be telling the press tomorrow, he told the paper that he would prove that what he told the Committee was just the truth and nothing else. The Committee refused to take what I said as the truth and rather relied on information from other sources to say that I was not truthful in my submissions, but know that I can prove that I told the truth I must let the world not the I did not lie so that at least I clear myself.