Parliament has approved the nomination of Walewale MP Lariba Zuweira Abudu as the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection.
Member of Parliament for Kwabre East Francisca Oteng Mensah has also been approved as the Deputy Gender Minister.
The approval comes after the two were vetted by the Appointment’s Committee of the House.
Moving the motion for Parliament to adopt the 29th report of the Appointments Committee, Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu, the Chairman of the Committee, said by consensus, it recommended the approval of the nominees.
He said the committee, per the provisions of Article 78 (1) of the 1992 Constitution and Standing Order 172, considered the two nominees, who demonstrated very good knowledge of issues of social welfare and human rights.
“They also showed competence in the management of issues concerning social security, social care services, livelihood, and employment support for women, children, and the vulnerable,” he said.
Seconding the motion, Haruna Iddrisu, Minority Leader, said both nominees had satisfied the requirement of Article 94 of the 1992 Constitution, the primary legal and constitutional threshold that qualified them to be ministers and MPs.
It will be recalled that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on July 28, 2022, revoked the appointment of the then Gender Minister Sarah Adwoa Safo after her continuous absence from her ministerial duties.
He subsequently nominated Lariba Zuweira Abudu and Francisca Oteng Mensah in August to be considered as Minister and Deputy Minister for Gender Children and Social Protection respectively.
The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Cecilia Abena Dapaah has since been a caretaker minister for the Gender ministry following the absence of the substantive minister.
During her vetting, the Gender Minister Designate Zuweira Abudu promised to introduce a toll-free app “Boame” (help me) for victims of gender-based violence, especially women.
When activated, she explained that the app would alert the ministry and the Ghana Police Service to move in quickly upon a call by a victim for the perpetrator to be arrested and prosecuted.
Hajia Zuweira also said that when approved, she would support a move to enrol the vulnerable, especially victims of sexual violence onto the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
She further said that her outfit would map out a strategy to minimise the menace of witchcraft and related disturbances in northern Ghana, adding that improving the quality of life of women and the vulnerable will be top on her agenda.
The minister-designate also said her outfit would increase the school feeding grant from 97 pesewas to an appreciable amount, as well as pursue the Finance Ministry for early release of grants to caterers to improve the nutritional value of the food.
For Francisca Oteng, she came under heavy scrutiny over her conflict of interest issue concerning the purchase of quantities of hand sanitizers from the Adonko Company Limited by the National Youth Authority (NYA).
She told the committee that she was the Board Chairperson of the NYA, whereas the Adonko Company Ltd belonged to her father and that she was a shareholder of the company.
Madam Oteng maintained that she had no idea the NYA was purchasing from Adonko Company Ltd during the COVID-19 times.
She believes she will be exonerated by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) after investigations are concluded.