Spio-Garbrah lied about his secondary school education – Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu

• Posted on October 3, 2014October 3, 2014
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The Minority of Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu has accused the Minister of Trades and Industry, Dr. Ekow Spio-Garbrah of lying to the Appointment Committee of Parliament about his secondary school education.

Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu said investigations showed that the Spio-Gabrah’s account that he entered secondary school at age 9 was not true.

“When we  probed further it came to the fore that the nominee had been repeated in Primary school a couple of times so it was most untrue the message he transmitted to the House,” he said.

He said Spio-Grabrah himself even acknowledged that he was indeed repeated a couple of times.

Addressing the House on Thursday’s sitting, the Minority Leader said  Spio-Garbrah only boasted about issues that were untrue.

“You don’t come before Parliament boasting about something that is factually untrue. Mr. Speaker, if this is not an indictment on other Ministers of State, I don’t see what else will constitute an indictment.”

The Minority Leader in Parliament also criticized Spio-Grabrah over what he termed, “the nominee’s seeming arrogant posture.”

Contributing to a debate shortly before the nominee was approved by the House, the Minority Leader catalogued a number of instances during the vetting process where the nominee seemed to have behaved arrogantly.

Although he seconded the motion for Spio-Grabrah to be approved as Trades Minister, the Minority Leader urged the nominee to be humble when dealing with his colleagues and subordinates at the new Ministry.

“Mr. Speaker certainly one must exude confidence but over -amplication of ones own successes and even perceived successes certainly would amount or perhaps translate to egocentrisim and self conceit and even arrogance.”

“There are little matters that as a House we should concern ourselves with because the person is going to superintend over a very big ministry to which huge allocations would be made every year and if a person is found not be truthful with little matters, we should be careful making the person superintend over huge responsibilities.”

The Appointment Committee after vetting the former Minister of Communications under the erstwhile Rawlings adminstration approved by consensus, the nomination of Spio-Gabrah as the Minister for Trade and Industry on Wednesday.

A report signed by the chairman of the committee, Ebo Barton-Oduro, indicated that: “the Appointment Committee is satisfied that the nominee is suitable to be appointed to the position to which he has been nominated.”

Dr. Spio-Garbrah was among the newly appointed Ministers in President John Mahama’s ministerial reshuffle in June.

-citifm