The Amissah-Arthur Vetting Report

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Created on Tuesday, 14 August 2012 00:00

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The Amissah-Arthur Vetting Report

…The Full Text of The Observations, Recommendations, Findings & Conclusions of Appointments Committee of Parliament

“THE AMISSAH-ARTHUR VETTING REPORT”

IN THE FOURTH SESSION OF THE FIFTH PARLIAMENT OF THE FOURTH REPUBLIC OF GHANA

TWENTY-SIXTH REPORT OF THE APPOINTMENTS COMMITTEE ON HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT’S NOMINATION FOR APPOINTMENT AS VICE PRESIDENT (6TH AUGUST, 2012)

*1.0 INTRODUCTION:

His Excellency, Presidential John Dramani Mahama in a letter dated 1st August, 2012 communicated to Parliament for the approval of the nomination of Mr. Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur for appointment as Vice President of the Republic of Ghana pursuant to Article 60 (10) of the Constitution.

In accordance with Order 172(2) of the Standing Orders of the House, the nomination was referred to the Appointments Committee for consideration and report.

The name of the nominee was subsequently published in the media in accordance with Standing Order 172(3). Memoranda were also invited from the public as part of the mechanism to ensure that the nominee satisfied the requirements of the Constitution.

*2.0 REFERENCE DOCUMENTS:

The following served as reference documents to the Committee during deliberations and public hearing of the nominees:

*1. The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana

*2. Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana

*3. Curriculum Vitae of the nominee

*3.0 PROCEDURE:

On appearing before the Committee, the nominee subscribed to the oath of a witness and answered questions relating to his record of office, the position to which he has been nominated and issues of general national concern.

The Chairman of the Committee commenced the meeting by indicating that public hearing of a vice presidential nominee was unprecedented in the history of the country. The Committee therefore sought guidance from other jurisdictions, particularly the United States of America (USA).

The United States recorded 16 instances where the position of the vice president became vacant. He stated that the 25th Amendment to the American Constitution which was inspired by the tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy, made provision for the nomination of Vice President to be approved by both Houses of Legislature. He stated that in 1973, when Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned, President Nixon invoked the 25th Amendment and nominated Gerald Ford, then the House Republican Leader as Vice President.

Congress conducted a thorough investigation on the nominee and held public and in-camera hearings on the vice presidential nominee Gerald Ford. On August 9th 1974, Gerald Ford succeeded Nixon as President. This made Gerald Ford the only person ever to be Vice President and later President without being elected to either office.

The decision of the Appointments Committee to conduct its proceedings in public was therefore guided by the Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana and the practices in jurisdictions such as USA.

The Chairman indicated that Order 172 vests in the Appointments Committee, the power to recommend for approval by Parliament, persons nominated by the President for appointment as Ministers of State, Deputy Ministers of States, the Chief Justice and other Justices of the Supreme Court and such other persons specified under the Constitution and other enactments.

Order 172(3) further enjoins the Committee to publish the names of such persons and the proceedings of the Committee held in public.

The Chairman noted that the Vice President was one of the persons so specified in the Constitution by virtue of article 60(10) and therefore the approval process aught to be held in public.

The position espoused by the Chairman was corroborated by the Ranking Member of the Committee who explained that the hearing of the nominee in public is in lieu of such scrutiny that would have ordinarily been exercised by the general public had the Vice President gone through normal elections as a Running Mate.

He suggested further that the vetting process was to provide a baptism to the nominee that Parliament has oversight responsibility over the Executive; and as such, the platform was to indicate to the nominee that he will be required to submit to Parliament whenever it is required of him to do so.

*4.0 OBSERVATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS:

*Background:

Mr. Kwesi Amissah-Arthur was born on 29th April, 1951 in Cape Coast, Central Region.

He attended Mfantsipim School, Cape Coast between 1963 and 1971 for his GCE ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level certificates.

He was awarded a Bachelor of Science (Economics) Honors Degree and a Master of Science (Economics) from the University of Ghana, Legon in 1974 and 1980 respectively.

Mr. Amissah-Arthur started work as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), University of Ghana from 1974 to 1975. He was appointed a Teaching Assistant at the Department of Economics, University of Ghana, Legon from 1977 to 1978 and was in 1979 promoted to the position of an Assistant Lecturer.

Between 1980 and 1988, Mr. Amissah-Arthur worked as a lecturer at the Department of Economics, University of Ghana. He also lectured at the Department of Economics, Anambra State College of Education, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria from August, 1981 to July 1983.

The nominee has held several positions. These include Special Assistant to the PNDC Secretary for Finance and Economic Planning from 1983 to January, 1986, Deputy PNDC Secretary for Finance and Economic Planning from February, 1986 to March 1993, and Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning from 1993 to March 1997.

Between 1997 and 2008, the nominee worked for various organizations (both Government Agencies and Non-Governmental Agencies) as a consultant. As part of his consultancy work, he assisted Sigma One Corporation on the Ghana Trade and Investment Reform Project aimed at enhancing Ghana’s export competitiveness from July 1998 to June 2000. He also assisted the Community Water and Sanitation Agency from 2003 to 2008 to develop their Strategic Investment Plan.

The Nominee has served on several Boards and Committees. He served as a Director of the Ghana Commercial Bank (1986-1991) and also served on the Agricultural Policy Coordinating Committee (Cabinet’s Advisory Committee) as the Chairman. He further served as the Chairman of the Board of the Ghana International Bank, London, UK from 2009 till his nomination as Vice President.

Mr. Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has served as the Governor of the Bank of Ghana since October 2009 to date.

*Citizenship:

The nominee confirmed to the Committee that he is a citizen of Ghana by birth.

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