[ 2017-01-23 ]

We’ll Review Case of GITMO 2 — Defence Minister-Designate
The Defence Minister designate, Mr Dominic
Nitiwul, says the government will take a decision
on the two Guantanamo Bay detainees after
reviewing the intelligence available.

Responding to a question when he appeared before
the Appointments Committee of Parliament last
Friday, Mr Nitiwul said the previous government
took the decision to accommodate the two detainees
based on the intelligence at the time.

“In the same way, this government is going to
analyse all the intelligence related to this
particular case and take a decision,” he told
the committee.

He was responding to a question by the Member for
Tamale North, Alhaji Alhassan Sayibu Suhuyini,
whether he (Nitiwul) would advise the President to
send back the two detainees to America.

Alhaji Suhuyini referred to a statement by the
President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, during the
electioneering, that the presence of the two
detainees in the country had opened Ghana to
external attacks.

Allowance to security forces

Based on a pledge made in the New Patriotic
Party’s (NPP’s) manifesto to adjust the
allowance given to members of the security forces
who went on international peacekeeping duties, the
nominee was asked how much the government was
going to increase the allowance.

In his response to the question, posed by the MP
for Bodi, Mr Sampson Ahi, Mr Nitiwul gave an
assurance that as the Mahama administration had
not made good its promise to raise the current
amount of $31 to $35, the NPP government was
prepared to do so.

“What we said (and I actually said it) is that
we are committed to increasing it to $35 and I can
say for a fact that there is enough gap to meet
that commitment; we are prepared to meet that
commitment and we shall meet that commitment,”
he stated.

Cyber security, employment, third military
hospital

The Minister of Defence designate also answered
questions relating to the government’s
preparedness to deal with issues concerning cyber
security, employment into the security services
and the construction of a third military hospital
in the northern part of the country.

The questions were posed by the MPs for Ablekuma
West, Mrs Ursula Owusu Ekuful; Manhyia North, Dr
Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, and Lawra, Mr Anthony
Karbo.

Mr Nitiwul advocated more investment to ensure
that Ghana did not become a victim of cyber
attacks.

On the question of fair and transparent
recruitment into the security agencies, he said
the law was clear on ensuring a regional balance
in the security services.

He said there was, however, the need to ensure
ethnic balance and pledged to look into the matter
when given the nod, adding that he would also
correct all anomalies to ensure everyone had a
fair chance of recruitment into the security
services.

He also gave an assurance that the government
would fulfil its pledge to build a third military
hospital in Tamale to serve the Northern Command
of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and also serve as
an emergency centre for civilians living in the
Upper West, Upper East and Northern regions.

On the matter of the murder of the Bimbilla Naa,
he said the government would uphold the principles
of justice to uphold the law as it continued the
search for the perpetrators.

Evacuation from The Gambia

The MP for North Tongu, Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa, asked
if Mr Nitiwul would advise the President to
consider the evacuation of Ghanaians from The
Gambia, as there was no information on such an
intended action if the need arose.

In response, the nominee said intelligence had
informed the government that about 50,000
Ghanaians, largely made up of fisher folk, were in
The Gambia, saying that the government had plans
to evacuate them if things got to a head.

Background

When given the nod as the Minister of Defence, the
MP for Bimbilla will become the youngest minister,
at 39, to hold that very sensitive and important
portfolio.

Born on November 4, 1977, the former Deputy
Minority Leader of Parliament, who has been an MP
since 2009, started off as a teacher, having
obtained his teacher’s Certificate ‘A’ from
the Akrokerri Training College in 1995.

Mr Nitiwul continued his teacher education at the
University College of Education, Winneba, where he
first obtained a diploma in science education in
2001 and then a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed)
Science degree in 2002.

Teaching experience

His first experience as a teacher was at the Local
Authority JHS at Chamba in the Northern Region
from 1995 to 1996, from where he moved to the St
Joseph’s JHS at Gungumpa, his alma mater, where
he was the headmaster but had the rank of
assistant headmaster from 1996 to 1998 because he
was then only a Certificate ‘A’ teacher.

Mr Nitiwul went on to teach at the E. P. Senior
High School at Saboba in the Northern Region from
2001 to 2002, after which he put aside the chalk
and went to Parliament.

As a very young member of the legislature from
2002 to 2005, he had the opportunity to attend the
International Academy for Leadership in Germany
where he pursued a course in Conflict Prevention
and Conflict Management in 2003 and 2005.

That was his first encounter with security matters
until he was nominated as a member of the
Presidential Transition Team in charge of Defence
last year.

Mr Nitiwul has a wealth of experience from his
time spent in the legislature and has served on
various committees of the House, including the
Appointments Committee, in addition to rising to
the position of Deputy Minority Leader from 2013
to 2017.

Vetting

It was, therefore, not surprising that when the
nominee appeared before the Appointments Committee
at approximately 9:15 p.m. last Friday, the
preamble by the Chairman, Mr Joseph Osei-Wusu, was
that the rules should be relaxed to “make it as
smooth and swift as possible” for Mr Nitiwul as
their tradition was when they vetted leaders in
Parliament.

That, however, did not prevent the committee from
posing very pertinent questions bordering on the
portfolio for which Mr Nitiwul had been nominated,
although his vetting took only about 50 minutes.

Source - Daily Graphic

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