By: Deborah Amewoyi
Social Media Activist, Oliver Barker-Vormawor earlier today, January 29 apologized to the appointments committee in parliament over bribery allegations directed towards the committee.
In a social media post, the activist cited that some appointment committee members demanded bribes from nominees in order to be approved. “So all the monies the ministerial appointees are being asked to pay to the Appointments Committee just to get approved, are those ones not affected by ORAL? Strange Republic.” the post read.
Prior to the post, Chairman of the Appointments Committee and 1st Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Bernard Ahiafor described the claims as baseless thereby inviting Mr. Vormawor to face the committee.
Out of two claims made, the activist has denied one of instigated towards him. The post read; “NDC members on the Appointments Committee take monies from Mahama’s ministerial nominees before approving them, and the Deputy Speaker must submit himself to ORAL.” His lawyer, has stated categorically that the statement was not made by his client.
However, the activist accepted and apologized for the initial bribery claim made on social media directed towards the appointments committee. “I am saying here clearly that my post was not intended to disparage members of the committee, and I have not intended to say that members of this committee have received or demanded bribes from various individuals. At no point was my statement intended to communicate the same, and for those reasons, I apologize.”
He concluded that the statements on his social media aimed to shed light on broader issues related to corruption and transparency, rather than explicitly targeting the committee. The activist is therefore willing to delete the post as a sign of his regret.
