The Minority Leader of Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has stated that he felt compelled to grill the Minister of Defence-designate, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, during his vetting due to the nominee’s actions.
According to Afenyo-Markin, the nominee’s personalization of issues in his responses to certain questions at the Appointments Committee of Parliament prompted him to ask 110 hard-hitting questions.
“Omane is my very good friend. When he came in, my initial posture was that since he was going to the Defence Ministry, we didn’t need to dig too deep. I thought we could manage him for 30 minutes and let him go. But he did something very unpleasant. After the first two questions, he started hitting below the belt. For instance, regarding the EC, I didn’t like the way he went after them, using very unprintable words, and then concluding by saying Jean Mensa (EC Chairperson) is his friend,” he told Bernard Avle on the Wednesday, January 29, 2025, edition of Point of View.
He explained that the nominee’s personalization of the questions, including attacks on his party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), caused him to intensify his questioning of Dr. Omane Boamah.
“Dr. Omane Boamah was attacking my party, and I could have gone even deeper, but I just let it slide,” he said.
During the vetting of Dr. Omane Boamah, Afenyo-Markin, who serves as a Ranking Member on the Appointments Committee of Parliament, posed a total of 110 questions to the nominee; the highest from any committee member.
By the rules of Parliament, the Ranking Member is entitled to ask an unlimited number of questions during the vetting of a nominee.
Some of the questions Afenyo-Markin directed at Dr. Omane Boamah focused on the competence of the current Electoral Commission leadership.
GA/MA
