Joseph Osei-Owusu, the former Chairman of Parliament's Appointments Committee, has criticized the expedited vetting process for three ministerial nominees, including Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, describing it as rushed and poorly handled.

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Speaking on the matter, Osei-Owusu questioned the decision to conduct the vetting on January 13, 2025, just four days after the nominees were announced by President John Dramani Mahama on January 9, 2025. He argued that the short notice failed to promote transparency and limited public engagement in the process.

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“I would have thought that [a] minimum [of] one week at best or two weeks [is given] to allow people who have issues and wanted to bring them out to the committee to enable them to do that, but I did not see any publication whatsoever. So I was surprised, and I think it was the wrong step," he said.

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The former Bekwai MP and First Deputy Speaker of the 8th Parliament stressed that the purpose of public hearings was to create room for citizen participation and scrutiny, which was undermined by the rushed nature of the vetting.

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“The reason we call that a public hearing is that we want to afford the opportunity for the public to participate in it, not because it is in public, but because we want to afford the public the opportunity to participate in it if there is a way," he explained.

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Osei-Owusu further described the vetting timeline as "needless, hasty, and indecent," emphasizing that it compromised the integrity of the process and denied the public a fair chance to raise concerns about the nominees.

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