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The Appointments Committee of Parliament has summoned social activist and private legal practitioner, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, over allegations of bribery levelled against members of the committee. He is scheduled to appear before the committee on Wednesday, 29th January 2025, to provide evidence to substantiate these claims.
In a social media post on Friday, 24th January, Mr Barker-Vormawor alleged that ministerial appointees were being asked to pay an undisclosed amount of money to the Appointments Committee in exchange for approval.
He wrote:
So all the monies the ministerial appointees are being asked to pay to the Appointments Committee just to get approved, are those ones not affected by ORAL? Strange Republic.
During a committee sitting on Tuesday, 28th January, First Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the vetting Committee, Bernard Ahiafor, condemned the comments, describing them as reckless. He refuted the claims and expressed his willingness to be investigated by the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) Committee.
Mr Ahiafor stated:
This morning, instead of starting vetting at least by 10 o'clock, we were called into a conclave to deliberate on this issue. We need to stop certain attitudes. Therefore, I, Bernard Ahiafor, First Deputy Speaker of Ghana's Parliament and the Chairman of the Vetting Committee, want to place it on record that neither I nor the committee members demand money from any nominee before vetting and approval.
He further directed Mr Barker-Vormawor to appear before the committee at 10:00 am on Wednesday to provide evidence:
I direct the Clerk of the Committee to invite Oliver Barker-Vormawor to appear tomorrow at 10:00 am to present evidence supporting his claim that members of this committee demand money from nominees before vetting and approval.
Mr Ahiafor added that should Mr Barker-Vormawor fail to appear, the committee would invoke its powers under Article 103 of the Constitution and Standing Order 13 (4).