The vetting of Deputy Minister-Designate for Energy and Green Transition, Richard Gyan-Mensah, took an unexpected turn when he failed to name the energy policy from the 2024 manifesto of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
During his vetting before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Tuesday, 25th February, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin asked the nominee to outline the party’s policies for the energy sector.
Mr. Gyan-Mensah began his response by referring to the President, but the Minority Leader quickly intervened and urged him to respond directly. After a brief pause, the nominee admitted:
I’ve not praised myself with the whole policy.
Following the awkward exchange, Chairman of the committee and deputy majority leader Kwaku Ricketts-Hagan attempted to justify the nominee’s failure to state the policy, remarking:
Our manifesto is not a driving licence, so we don’t carry it with us. Please bring it up if you disagree with it. However, requiring nominees to submit the party’s manifesto is analogous to requiring them to submit Ghana’s constitution. The NDC’s energy sector policies, as outlined in their manifesto, include the following, despite the struggles of the nominee: Restructure and realign both operative and regulatory agencies to enhance sector efficiency, transparency, accountability, and governance where necessary;
Develop an Energy Sector Strategic Framework to integrate the energy and power subsectors;
Ensure that the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) promptly distributes the appropriate share of revenue to upstream providers by reviewing and enforcing the cash waterfall mechanism; Make sure ESLA funds are used for what they were intended for; and Improve professionalism across the sector.