Deputy Minister-designate for Energy Andrew Egyapa Mercer may have a long way to go to become a deputy minister after some members of the Appointments Committee raised concerns with some of the answers he gave during his vetting on Monday, June 7.
The Sekondi Member of Parliament was one of four deputy ministers-designate vetted on Monday.
But sources say the rest – Rev. John Ntim Fordjour for Education, George Mireku-Duker for Lands and Natural Resources and Tina Mensah for Health – will be approved.
Mr Mercer’s nomination, however, has been put on hold by consensus, according to sources.
He is said to have failed to clearly declare his disinterest in the Power Distribution Services (PDS) Ghana Limited, whose takeover of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) was cancelled in 2019.
“You can disclose an interest where one exists but if you don’t have any interest, I fail to see how you can be called upon to declare an interest,” Mr Egyapa Mercer indicated when he was questioned by the Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak Mohammed, to declare his interest in the company.
“As I have indicated, the transaction that the government of Ghana executed as a legal entity, separate and distinct from its shareholders, I did not have any interest in PDS and so there was no requirement on me to make any disclosures.”
But the Asawase MP insisted that since Mr Egyapa Mercer remains a Director at TG Energy Solutions Ghana Limited, at least up till last Friday, it would be difficult for him to go to the Energy Ministry to serve as a deputy minister.
But the nominee insisted: “Mr Chairman, if the Committee finds it worthy to approve me, I don’t see any difficulty at all.”
Source: 3news.com|Ghana
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