Governance expert and former United Nations senior governance advisor, Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, has observed that the latest ministerial reshuffle by President Akuffo-Addo will have little or no positive impact on the government.
Prof. Agyeman-Duah held the view that the President’s action has come too late. This, he said, is due to the significant delay for the President to act on the calls from Ghanaians, including some NPP MPs, to sack some of his appointees.
“There was a time when Ghanaians were really calling for a serious reshuffle of government, including some members of the president’s own party who are in parliament, and I understand there was even a meeting between that group and the president.
“Particularly over the continuing office of the finance minister…but nothing happened. I guess he [President Akuffo-Addo] is a bit impervious to public sentiments and therefore unresponsive when these sentiments are raised.
“Nonetheless, he has done it. So the question is, with only about 10 months to go, what can these new appointees do to really improve governance under this president?” The governance expert told Alfred Ocansey, host of TV3’s political analysis programme, Ghana Tonight, on Wednesday, Feb. 14.
He also noted that the new appointees are likely to join the campaign of the NPP presidential candidate in the bid to break the ‘eight’ and hence spend less time at their various ministries.
“Many of these people will be engaging in campaigns once the season begins in earnest by June. What time would they have to dedicate to the new ministries or positions that they have been appointed to?
“So in terms of real impact of the announced changes, I am not sure what kind of positive impact it will have on governance in the country,” said Prof. Agyeman-Duah.
Prof. Agyeman-Duah also emphasised that the replacement for Ken Ofori-Atta, the former minister of finance, Dr. Amin Adam, would not be able to succeed despite his stellar academic credentials.
“These are old hands who have just been reshuffled into new places…Perhaps the dismissal of Mr Ofori-Atta finance minister, might be the main case here…as I see it, his replacement, even though he is a very solid individual if you look at the credentials of Dr. Adam, I believe he is not going to have enough time to change anything,” he added.
Background
In the early hours of Wednesday, February 14, 2024, President Akufo-Addo undertook the much-awaited ministerial reshuffle, ten months clear to the end of his tenure.
While some ministers, like Ken Ofori-Atta, have been sacked, others, like Kojo Oppong Nkrumah and Francis Asenso Boakye, have been reassigned to other portfolios.
According to Mr Arhin, “The President personally expressed his sincere appreciation directly to each of the Ministers and Deputy Ministers, who have exited government for their commitment, competence, dedication, and hard work in office, which helped in the realisation of the government’s mandate to the Ghanaian people over the last seven (7) years, and wished each of them well in their future endeavours.”
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