The Founding President of IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe, has expressed disappointment over the leadership of Parliament’s Appointments Committee, arguing that the vetting process has lost its engaging nature under the current chairmanship.
In a Facebook post on February 26, 2025, Cudjoe credited Minority Leader Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin for making the vetting sessions insightful and lively.
He lamented the return of what he described as a “rigid, unprepared, and uninspiring chairman,” calling for the reinstatement of Kweku George Ricketts-Hagan.
“Be honest, guys. But for Afenyo-Markin, this whole vetting would have been boring, and we never would have known so much about the nominees. You don’t spoil it by bringing back the most rigid, unprepared, and severely uninspiring chairman. Sad. Bring back Ricketts-Hagan,” Cudjoe posted.
His remarks come in the wake of a dramatic exchange between Afenyo-Markin and Bernard Ahiafor, the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Member of Parliament for Akatsi South, who currently chairs the committee.
Clash Over Dance Request
The controversy erupted during the vetting of the Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice-designate, Justice Srem-Sai, on Wednesday, February 26, 2025. Afenyo-Markin, who serves as the Ranking Member on the committee, requested that the nominee demonstrate borborbor, a traditional Ewe dance.
However, Chairman Bernard Ahiafor overruled the request, prompting sharp criticism from Afenyo-Markin. The Minority Leader insisted that showcasing cultural elements had been part of previous vetting sessions and argued that the request was in line with parliamentary traditions.
“Chairman, if you decide to be whimsical and capricious, it will not advance the work of this committee. Apart from the constitutional issues, it is also about our culture. We have had nominees speaking their dialects, and I do not think that if you start with ‘overruled, overruled,’ it helps. The man is talking about a dance that we all don’t know. Until today, if anybody had asked me in the Volta Region about our dances as part of our culture, I would have said Agbadza and borborbor. Today, he is enlightening me and others, and I am saying that he should demonstrate it for just thirty seconds, and you are saying that you are disallowing the question,” Afenyo-Markin asserted.
Ahiafor took issue with the Minority Leader’s description of his ruling as “whimsical and capricious,” instructing him to withdraw his words. Afenyo-Markin refused, stating emphatically:
“I will not withdraw. You were whimsical and capricious in the way you overruled my question. I will not withdraw.”
After repeated attempts to get the Minority Leader to retract his statement, Ahiafor exercised his authority as chairman and ended Afenyo-Markin’s questioning of the nominee.
“Well, to demonstrate to you that I am the chairman of this particular vetting committee, that may be your last question,” Ahiafor ruled.
The exchange has since sparked debate, with Franklin Cudjoe’s comments adding to calls for a more engaging approach to the vetting process.
The post Clash Over Dance Request: Bring back Ricketts-Hagan – Franklin Cudjoe advocates appeared first on MyNewsGh.
