President Akufo-Addo with ministers
President Akufo-Addo last Friday swore in the third and final batch of 11 ministers who would form part of his central government.
They included Professor George Yaw Gyan-Baffour, Planning; Catherine Afeku, Tourism and Creative Arts; Mavis Hawa Koomson, Special Development Initiatives; Awal Ibrahim Mohammed, Business Development; Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, Information and Isaac Asiamah, Youth and Sports.
Also sworn in were Kofi Dzames, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs; Cecilia Abena Dapaah, Aviation; Boniface Abubakar Saddique, Inner City and Zongo Development; Elizabeth Naa Afoley Quaye, Fisheries and Aquaculture and Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Parliamentary Affairs.
It followed their approval by parliament after going through grueling vetting sessions by the Appointments Committee of the House.
They were made to swear the Oaths of Allegiance, Minister and Secrecy.
After swearing them in, President Akufo-Addo asked that the ministers get copies of the speeches he gave during the swearing-in of the first and the second batches of ministers to make them (speeches) their guiding principle whiles serving in government.
Charge
First was the need to see their ministerial appointments as an avenue of service to the people of Ghana, “service which should be discharged with humility; it is not meant to allow you to lord it over the citizenry.”
The second, as he put it, “is the requirement of integrity in the exercise of your functions. You are here to advance the public interest, not your personal fortunes, for you have been called to public service.”
The president therefore charged them to as it were, “comply quickly with the obligation to file your asset declarations.”
He expressed gratitude to the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye; the First Deputy Speaker who also doubles as Chairman of the Appointments Committee, Joe Osei-Owusu; the Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu; Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu; members of the Appointments Committee and the 275 Members of Parliament (MPs) for the expeditious and thorough manner in which they completed the process of approving his nominees.
Nana was delighted in the fact that they did so in record time and that “indeed they have enabled the central government to be assembled in the fastest time in the history of the Fourth Republic.”
President Nana Akufo-Addo underscored, “The Ghanaian people and I are grateful to them for their service; I pray they will act with equal dispatch over the nominees for Regional Ministers and Deputy Ministers.”
Assurance
On his own behalf and his colleagues’ Professor Gyan-Baffour thanked the president for the honour done them saying, “We want to assure you Sir, of our unflinching loyalty. We pledge our unadulterated support for you and we are ready, willing and able to work with diligence at the top of our performance in rain or in shine to enable you realize your vision of transforming this nation economically, socially, politically and culturally.
“We will under your leadership and direction serve this nation to the best of our ability; we pledge to you and the people of Ghana that in the execution of our mandates, we’ll treat all manner of people with respect and dignity……”
The ministers also promised, “The need to protect the public purse will be the guiding principle in whatever we do; we will honour all the oaths that we have sworn to uphold before you today.”
From Charles Takyi-Boadu, Flagstaff House