[ 2021-02-02 ]

CARE GHANA petitions Parliament over nomination of Hawa Koomson

Accra, Feb. 02, GNA — Care for Free and Fair
Elections Ghana (“CARE” GHANA), a civil
society Organisation, has petitioned Mr Alban
Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament and the
Leadership, to reject the nomination of Madam
Mavis Hawa Koomson, as Minster for Fisheries and
Aquaculture.

A statement signed by Mr David Kumi Addo,
Executive Secretary, “CARE” GHANA, said the
petition to reject Madam Koomson’s nomination or
appointment was based on her “credibility
deficit”, “violent tendencies” and
“incompetence.”

It said Madam Koomson, as a Minister for Special
Development Initiative, presented to Parliament a
budget of GH¢800,000.00 for the development of a
website, which outrageous.

The petition said the “deceptive act”
demonstrated indicated the lack of credibility on
her part and smacked of corruption, which was
detrimental to the development of the nation.

The statement said the “act of corruption” had
also imposed untold hardship on Ghanaians,
especially those living in depressed communities,
denying them of basic social amenities and
developmental project required to improve their
living conditions.

“Her actions are in clear at variance with the
law and contrary to the behaviour expected of a
Minister of State. Owing to this, she has lost
credibility and public respect thereby preventing
her from holding any future ministerial
position,” the statement said.

Again, it said Madam Koomson's “frequent
engagement in violent activities” was in clear
violation of the code of conduct strictly observed
by ministers of state and did not reflect the
supposed demeanour of a Minister.

“For example, she admitted shooting sporadically
into the air in public in one of the registration
centres in the Awutu Senya East Constituency
during the voter registration exercise, an act
that won for Ghana an international embarrassment
and sunk the respect the public had for her as a
Mnister and the Ministry of Special Development
Initiative.”

“She also allegedly encouraged her vigilantes to
attack anyone that crossed her path during the
December 7, 2020 General Elections. This comes to
question her ability to live in harmony and build
a good working relationship with people.”

The statement said the “violent disposition”
of the Ministerial Nominee would ostensibly deny
her the opportunity to excel, thus, she would
become a ponderous liability on the State and the
Ministry.

It said her “penchant for violence to mask her
incompetence” obviously exposed her inability to
focus on her core mandate to deliver and this
opened her up for criticism and public ridicule,
bringing the name of her Ministry and government
into disrepute if so approved.


The statement said Madam Koomson’s “poor
performance” in her previous appointment as the
Minister for Special Development Initiative
“disqualified” her from becoming the Minister
for Fisheries and Aquaculture.

“As a Minister for Development, she did very
little in terms of development to alleviate the
suffering of the masses. The poor implementation
of the ‘One Village One Damn’ under the
Special Development Initiative and her supervision
of the construction of dug outs instead of dams
needed for irrigation and other agricultural
activities in the dry season worsened the plight
of the communities deprived of water.”

It said her “incompetence” in that regard
amounted to a waste of the tax payer's money since
it could not serve any purpose in those
communities.

“We are, therefore, of the view that, her
approval to become the Minister for Fisheries and
Aquaculture will aggregate to a square peg in a
round hole because the Ministry of Fisheries and
Aquaculture is a dynamic and a more challenging
Ministry that requires individuals with the right
attitude and competence to advance progress in
terms of development, hence our call to reject her
nomination.”

The statement said to serve in the high office of
a Minister of State, required “competence,
credibility and sobriety in the least, which Madam
Koomson had demonstrated to lack when she was
given the opportunity to serve as Minister for the
Special Development Initiative.”

“We, therefore, pray that in the interest of
good governance and country, her nomination should
be totally rejected by this honorable committee.
We humbly submit for your consideration.”

Madam Hawa Koomson declined to respond to the
allegations made gains her.

Source - GNA

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