The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Ebenezer Sekyi Hughes has been accused of underhand dealings in the selection of a Clerk of Parliament, the Enquirer has said.

According to the paper's Thursday edition, the Speaker is being accused of ‘kululu’ and cronyism in the recruitment of a new clerk after three people had been short listed and interviewed for the position of a Clerk of Parliament last year.

Kenneth E.K Tachie, the incumbent clerk has since last year attained the statutory retiring age of 60. The Parliamentary Service Board placed an advertisement in the dailies calling for applications for the position.

Mr Sekyi Hughes who happens to be the head of the Parliamentary Service Board, is however reported to have directed that the position be re-advertised.

This has incurred the displeasure of Deputy and Principal Assistant Clerks of Parliament because they believe the action was intended to rope in an outsider who did not meet the deadline for the submission of application letters.

Three deputy clerks, Mrs Rose Keddey, Emmanuel K. Anyimadu and John G. K. Agama applied for the post and were short listed by a panel chaired by an ex-NPP Member of Parliament, Mr Darko Mensah.

However, Mr Anyimadu who is said to have performed extremely well was sidelined for being too young. Mrs. Keddey who the Speaker wanted for the position did not perform well at the interview and was therefore dropped.

Mr Agama, who is Mr Tachie’s immediate assistant and who was widely tipped for the position is said not to be in the good books of the Speaker. Therefore, the Speaker unilaterally asked the panel to re-advertise the position in the dailies.

What should therefore have passed silently as a normal job advertisement published by the Office of Parliament in the dailies last week, is brewing trouble in the august house.

According to the Enquirer, if the situation persists, it would lead to one of the most embarrassing moments in the existence of Ghana’s Parliament as the deputy and principal assistant clerks gear up for a massive demonstration against the Speaker.

The protest, according to the junior clerks would be to curb what they see as the speaker’s creeping favoritism approach in employing officers of the House.

They have accused the Speaker of unilaterally employing people including, Mrs Rose Keddey as a deputy clerk and Kwesi Eshun, a student of the Ghana School of Law as the Director of Research into the House.

But the motivating factor for the demonstration would be against attempts by the Speaker and the President to appoint the ex-Executive Secretary of the defunct NRC, Prof Ken Agyeman Attafuah as the next clerk of Parliament.

The reason for the re-advertisement last week in the Daily Guide and the Daily Graphic according to parliamentary sources is to enable Prof Attafuah meet the deadline after the first advert was run.

Source: The Enquirer