Human rights activist Oliver Barker-Vormawor has been pardoned by Parliament’s Appointments Committee after apologizing for a social media post suggesting ministerial nominees were required to pay money for approval.
However, he has been directed to publicly distance himself from a separate statement falsely attributed to him.
During his appearance before the Committee, Barker-Vormawor clarified that his comments were not meant to accuse members of engaging in bribery.
“My post was not intended to disparage members of the Appointments Committee, and I have not intended to say that members of this committee have received or demanded bribes from various individuals. At no point was my statement intended to comment same. For those reasons, I apologise,” he stated.
Explaining why he had not taken down the post earlier, he said he initially considered removing it but refrained to ensure the original wording could be verified.
“The reason why I have left the post on and not deleted it—in fact, I did contemplate it—was because I saw that the words had been twisted, and that if I was questioned on it, reference can be made to verify it,” he explained.
Following further discussions, he expressed readiness to delete the post.
“Mr Chair, I am happy to (pull it down). As the conversation has indicated and clarity has been brought to it. I am happy to.”
Meanwhile, his lawyer, Nana Ato Dadzie, dismissed claims that Barker-Vormawor had accused National Democratic Congress (NDC) members on the Committee of accepting bribes. He insisted that one of the statements circulating was falsely attributed to his client.
Two statements were examined during the hearing. 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 made a direct accusation, 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 strongly refuted the second statement, asserting it was not authored by his client.
“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 stressed.
However, he admitted that Barker-Vormawor was responsible for the first statement, which was posted on Facebook on January 24.
Committee Chairman Bernard Ahiafor acknowledged Barker-Vormawor’s apology but instructed him to issue a disclaimer on the post he denies authoring.
