Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Motion on the Floor.
Mr Speaker, I would like to commend H. E. the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for walking his talk. In this Report, three out of the 12 nominees being considered are women of repute. They are hardworking, know- ledgeable, skilful and capable of performing creditably in their various Ministries and must be supported by the House to do so.
I would like to make special mention of Hon Abena Osei-Asare who has been given another opportunity to serve the Ministry of Finance for the good people of Ghana. Hon Abena Osei-Asare joins the list of few distinguished women to serve at the Ministry during the first term of the ruling Government. Given her working life as a banker in Barclays Bank in 2012, Abena has proven that her competencies are never in doubt.
Mr Speaker, with regard to her role as Deputy Minister, she struck me with her responses on page 40 of the
Report. She stated that without interpersonal and good working relationships, it would be difficult to achieve anything, regardless of your knowledge or skills.
Clearly, her second spell as Deputy Minister for Finance is expected to put her in good stead to steer the affairs of the Ministry of Finance much better than she used to be. In one of her responses on SSNIT investment on page 42 of the Report, she explained that reforms have been introduced into the investments regime at SSNIT which would ensure that funds are invested on high yielding instruments to attract the desired returns to contributors.
Mr Speaker, furthermore, on the indebtedness of NHIS to service providers, the nominee indicated that delays in claim payment is partly attributed to the delays of service providers to submit claims on time. The nominee demonstrated that she is a team player and committed to improve the calls of the Ministry.
The Hon Deputy Minister for Trade designate, Mrs Ama Dokua Asiamah- Adjei, with her background in psychology and sociology and in law as a student, came in with the good understanding of the activities of the
Ministry of Trade and Industry. She was able to answer questions on how the committee on African Continental Free Trade Area, aims to liberalise and significantly eliminate discriminative measures with respect to trade in goods and services. She demonstrated a very good sense of commitment to the work she did at the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Mr Speaker, I do not think any Hon Member in this House would contest the nomination of Mrs Ama Pomaa Boateng as the Hon Deputy Minister for Communications. We are all aware of the enormous role she played with the digitalisation of our Parliament and would certainly undoubtedly assist her Hon Minister, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, another hard working and dynamic woman, to facilitate the digitalisation of Ghana.
Mr Speaker, the nominee, even though was quizzed for a short period, impressed the Committee so much with her knowledge of the sector and the right approach to mainstream e- application in every facet of the country's economy.
Mr Speaker, Mr Charles Adu- Boahen, the only designate Hon Minister of State for Finance, acquitted himself well with his responses on the banking sector
clean-up and the Agyapa Royal Agreement. First of all, on page 7 of the Report, he was forthright with his responses of the cost of the banking sector clean-up. He explained that the Government had an option to inject capital using liquidity from the central bank but the situation had become dire and persistent so he had no option but to revoke the licences of those banks. This he said, was to prevent the problem from fostering and safeguarding jobs.
Mr Speaker, his subsequent explanation to the Agyapa Royalty Agreement was apt, so I would recommend that his forthright and knowledge as well as conviction proves that he is well versed in the issues to deserve another stint with the Ministry.
Mr Speaker, finally, I would like to mention that the Hon Deputy Ministers-designate for Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Mr Augustine Collins Ntim and Mr O. B. Amoah, are agreeably seasonal local government experts giving their stints as assembly members to DCEs of Offinso and Aburi respectively. Again, they have rich experience because they have serviced in that capacity during the first tenure of the ruling Government. One of their responses that impressed us was their approach to deal with sanitation.
