The nominees were approved by consensus on Thursday, March 4, 2021 and this brings to a total of 29 ministerial nominees by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The 16 nominees approved are Kwasi Amoako-Atta for Roads and Highways; Kwaku Ofori Asiamah for Transport; John Peter Amewu for Railway Development; Mrs. Cecilia Abena Dapaah for Sanitation and Water Resources and Mohammed Ibrahim Awal for Tourism, Arts and Culture.
The rest are Kwaku Agyeman Manu for Health; Alan Kyerematen for Trade and Industry; Godfred Yeboah Dame for Attorney-General and Minister of Justice designate; Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful for Communications and Digitisation; Samuel Abu Jinapor for Lands and Natural Resources and Francis Asenso Boakye for Works and Housing.
Others include Ebenezer Kojo Kum for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs; Dr. Kwaku Afriyie for Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation; Mustapha Ussif for Youth and Sports; Joseph Cudjoe as a Minister of State in the Office of the President in charge of Public Enterprises and also Mrs. Freda Prempeh as a Minister of State for Works and Housing.
Earlier, the Members of Parliament on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) expressed their reservation against the approval of five of the nominees - Peter Amewu, Godfred Yeboah Dame, Kwasi Amoako Atta, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, and Kwaku Agyeman Manu.
The MPs said Kwaku Agyemang-Manu was required to provide further and better particulars on the mysterious Frontiers Healthcare Services Limited US$150 airport antigen test.
The nominee is required to clarify the procurement process, particularly as he had told the committee that the Presidential Task Force and the Ghana Health Service were the procurement entities – a claim which is later turning out to be false.
On the part of John Peter Amewu, the Minority said he is expected to clarify a number of issues relating to the PDS contract. Of particular interest is how much revenue was collected by PDS and the outstanding claims by PDS on the government.
And Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the NDC MPs said is required to provide further clarification on the criteria used for the closure of radio stations across the country.
"The nominee is expected to respond to empirical concerns on the apparent discrimination against a certain category of radio stations during the audit and closures of the stations.
"We demand concrete evidence from the nominee on her claims that the Kelni GVG contract has resulted in monthly savings of US$1.1million," the Minority added.