Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga has reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring that all ministerial nominees scheduled for vetting on a given day are vetted, regardless of how long the process takes.
While acknowledging Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin’s right to ask as many questions as he deems necessary, Ayariga emphasized that the vetting process would continue until all nominees for the day have been vetted, even if it extends late into the night
He placed on record that he would not change the rules to limit questioning time, despite concerns over how Afenyo-Markin have been using the facility available to leaders.
He added that unless there was a consistent pattern of misuse, no legislative action would be taken to restrict questioning time.
His comment comes amid concerns that the Minority Leader and the Ranking Member of the is committee spending excessive time on a single nominee, disrupting the schedule.
On January 30, 2025, Afenyo-Markin spent over five hours asking 196 questions during the vetting of Sam George, Minister-designate for Communication.
His actions delayed the next nominee’s vetting, forcing a rescheduling. The incident led to chaos in the Appointments Committee, resulting in the suspension of four MPs by Speaker Alban Bagbin. Similarly, the Minority Leader spent six hours and asked 106 questions during the vetting of Ablakwa, Minister-designate for Foreign Affairs.
Despite this, Ayariga maintained that such delays would not derail the process. He reiterated that his goal was to ensure all nominees were vetted, approved, and sworn in on schedule, regardless of the Minority Leader’s approach.
“I strongly opposed on Monday a proposal to restrict the time a leader has to ask nominees questions. You may not be happy with how Afenyo-Markin is using this facility, but remember that one day, you may also be in the minority and will need it.
“We have vetted 42 ministers out of 60, leaving just 18. If I didn’t change the rule earlier, why should I change it now when we are almost done?
“If my target is to finish vetting 10 nominees in two days, and you decide to ask one nominee 200 questions, fine you can ask. But you will still sit and vet the rest of the nominees scheduled for that day, even if we have to close at 1 AM.
“If we are to close at 1 a.m. due to the numerous questions, he will sit and vet them. He decided to ask questions that were not necessary. So, I have set a target for you, you can go and sit there and ask 1,000 questions, but you will still vet the rest of the nominees scheduled for that day and then, on the third day, I will have them approved, and on the fourth day, I will have them sworn in. That’s my target, so you can sit there and ask those numerous questions,” he said.
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