FixTheCountry Convener, Mr. Oliver Barker-Vormawor appeared before Parliament’s vetting committee to answer questions on a controversial post he made on his social media handles.
The social media post alleged that members of the Parliamentary Appointments Committee have been receiving some monies for the approval of the president’s minister-designates.
Appearing before the committee, the political activist has however clarified that the post was not necessarily referring to any specific person of the current committee.
Unable to substantiate his claims, Oliver was caught between rendering an apology or hold on to his claims and face further probe.
In his response to the Chairman’s question as to whether he was apologising for the statement, willing to pull it down, and issue a disclaimer, Mr. Barker-Vormawor, stated, “Mr. Chairman, I categorically disassociate myself from the comments attributed to me, and subsequent remarks that have been made by others, that I was accusing certain members of this Committee for corruption.” He mentioned that the statement appeared on Facebook, under one “NPP Projects Bureau”, and said that there is evidence that he had made it known that that statement was fake.
Mr. Barker-Vormawor also explained that the intendment of his post, was to invite persons who were reaching out to him in his inbox regarding such news, that there was a procedure for them to submit themselves.
He said, “You can see that the post has been edited many times because I was trying to convey the right tone. Unfortunately, perhaps lacking the skill of the gap, I made the post in a manner that suggested that I was accusing specific members of this Committee”.
In rendering his apology to the committee, Mr. Oliver Barker-Vormawor said, “Mr. Chairman, I am saying here clearly, that my post was not intended to discourage 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 same, and for those reasons, I apologise”.
Addressing why he had left the post on social media, he explained that he did contemplate it but he saw that the words had been twisted and that, “It became imperative on me that I maintain the post in its original form, that if I was questioned on it, reference can be made on it for me to verify it.”
The Chairman of the Appointments committee questioned him if he was willing to pull down the post since the issue had been resolved. Mr. Vormawor sured that he was happy to remove it.
Mr. Bernard Ahiafor, Chairman of the.committee then advised him to do a disclaimer that he was not responsible for the alleged statements.
In his closing remarks, Mr. Barker-Vormawor emphasized that, “I reiterate again, categorically, and for all intends and purposes, as I have done four days ago and continue to do, that I have at no point, uttered those words. All I know about that statement is that, it appeared on an NPP Projects Bureau Facebook account. I don’t know the source of it”.
Mr. Ahiafor then asked him to proceed to share copies of his disclaimer at the various platforms. In concluding the questioning and acknowledging Mr. Barker-Vormawor’s apology, the Chairman made the committee aware that the apology had been made, and that the case had been resolved.
The FixTheCountry convener was represented by Lawyer and Former Chief of Staff, Nana Ato Dadzie, Esq.
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