Lawyer for activist Oliver Barker-Vormawor, Nana Ato Dadzie, has rejected claims that his client authored a widely circulated statement alleging that National Democratic Congress (NDC) members on Parliament’s Appointments Committee demanded money from ministerial nominees under former President John Mahama.
Appearing before the Appointments Committee today, Barker-Vormawor was confronted with two separate statements linked to him.
The first read: “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.”
The second, which was more direct in its accusations, stated: “NDC members on the vetting committee take money from Mahama’s ministerial nominees before approving them. The Deputy Speaker must submit himself to ORAL.”
Nana Ato Dadzie firmly denied that Barker-Vormawor made the second statement, calling it fake.
“The second statement is fake. He never wrote that statement. He never authored that statement, posted that statement. This is not from Mr. Barker-Vormawor,” he insisted.
However, the lawyer acknowledged that his client was responsible for the first statement, which was posted on Facebook on January 24.
Barker-Vormawor’s allegations sparked backlash, with Bernard Ahiafor, Chairman of the Appointments Committee, strongly refuting the claims. Ahiafor directed the committee clerk to summon Barker-Vormawor for questioning.
“Our attention is drawn to the media statement by Oliver Barker-Vormawor to the effect that the Majority Members of the Committee have been demanding money before approving the nominees and the Chairman must submit himself to ORAL. Let me place on record that I am ever ready to submit myself to ORAL. The second aspect was to the effect that all the committee members are taking money from the nominees before vetting and approval,” Ahiafor stated.
He further condemned the allegations, emphasizing the need to protect the integrity of Parliament.
“We need to stop this attitude. So therefore, I, Bernard Ahiafor, First Deputy Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament and Chairman of the Vetting Committee, want to place it on record that myself and the committee members do not demand money from any nominee before vetting and for approval,” he added.
Following the directive from the committee’s leadership, the Clerk of Parliament summoned Barker-Vormawor for today’s hearing to clarify his allegations.