Governance Expert, Professor Baffour Agyemang-Duah, has said that the timing in the appointment of New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate for Manso Nkwanta as Managing Director of the National Investment Bank (NIB), is problematic.

According to him, it is approximately eight months to the general elections and appointing a parliamentary candidate as the head of such an institution creates a lot of suspicion.

Speaking on JoyFM’s Midday News on May 14, he said “These appointments by presidents do not come under the Civil Service where they are required to resign before they get into active politics. So in that respect, there is nothing technically wrong with this gentleman who has been appointed as MD for NIB.

“What is making people raise questions is the timing of it and more importantly somebody who was in the position as the deputy manager, of course, we understand he helped to kind of restructure the bank and all that.

“Seven months to elections, you elevate this person to be the managing director at the time that he has already declared his intention to run for parliament, that raises questions,” he said.

He explained that the bank in question requires a lot of management to restore it to its glory days, and campaigning is equally a full-time job. This raises the question of whether he might be able to manage the bank.

“First of all with only seven months to the end of the tenure of the government, the one who appointed him, is this person going to have time to attend to the duties that require full time attention?”

But Tweneboah Kodua Fokuo has assured that he is a good manager of his time and can therefore juggle both roles. He stressed that none would conflict with the other.

The Minority in Parliament is opposed to the appointment, saying it is not the best corporate practice decision for a struggling national bank to be headed by a parliamentary candidate who is focused on winning political power.

The new MD, who until his appointment was the Deputy MD of the bank, is the governing New Patriotic Party's (NPP) parliamentary candidate for Manso Nkwanta in the Ashanti Region.