Parliament Endorses Anane

Parliament on Wednesday, February 5, 2008 approved the nominee for Minister of Roads Transportation Dr Richard Winfred Anane. He was the former Roads Transport Minister but resigned to contest adverse findings made against him the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ). The Appointments Committee of the House, which vetted the Minister designate earlier, recommended by consensus to the House to approve President Kufuor’s nominee for the position. “Having met the requirements of the law in full, the Committee hereby recommends the nominee, by consensus to this Honourable House for approval,” the report of the Committee of the House said. President Kufuor again nominated in February this year Dr Anane, Member of Parliament for Nhyiaeso, as Minister for Transportation after the Supreme Court set CHRAJ’s ruling aside citing procedural errors. CHRAJ’s decision was based on investigations into allegations of corruption, conflict of interest and abuse of power against him. Though Dr Anane was cleared on the allegation of corruption, the Commission recommended his removal from office after it found him culpable of conflict of interest and perjury. According to CHRAJ, investigations revealed that the Minister had given contradictory figures concerning money sent to his mistress, Alexandria O’Brian, under oath before the Commission and in a prior appearance before a Parliamentary Select Committee during his vetting as Minister. Dr Anane subsequently resigned his post and contested the matter at the High Court. When he appeared before the Appointments Committee, the Minister designate, requested that his private and family life remained private. He disclosed that he had streamlined the process of sending remittances to his son, which he had with the American mistress, in a family tribunal in the US to avoid personal mediation which could lead to disagreements in future. Dr Anane told the Appointments Committee that the allegations by CHRAJ were unfounded, and that there was no need to revisit the matter since the court had ruled on the matter and ordered that the evidence be expunged from the records. Mr Haruna Iddrisu, in a contribution to the motion on the adoption of the report, accepted Dr Anane’s return but said, it indicated a lack of capable men in the ruling New Patriotic Party, which contradicted the slogan; “We have the men”.