Haruna Iddrisu
The Minority National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Friday poked fun at the ministerial list of President Akufo-Addo to Parliament’s Appointments Committee, describing it as “recycling” with “no new thinking and innovation.”
The President is forming his new government after winning a second term in the just ended 2020 Presidential Election. He has begun announcing his full cabinet and ministers, with 46 names so far submitted to Parliament for approval.
But members of the Minority, led by Haruna Iddrisu, have raised issues with the new appointments and questioned the ruling New Patriotic Party’s (NPP’s) human resource credentials.
At a news conference in Parliament last Friday, Mr. Iddrisu said the list “only reminds us in the Minority Group that if President Akufo-Addo were to set up a 1D1F in recycling, he would be a very good entrepreneur in this direction.”
“We just see a recycled list. No new impetus; no new thinking and no new innovation. It reminds us of Ghana still living in 1997. The country has come very far and ministers should not just be comfortable,” he stressed.
The Tamale South MP continued: “I don’t want to believe that President Akufo-Addo does not have the courage and political will to reshuffle because we all witnessed what happened in the last four years. He just couldn’t do that, and even an opportunity of change of government, he does appear ready to do just that.”
“So there is no new impetus, no new hope,” he insisted and added, “And just like I’ve said, we have just seen a recycled list.”
According to him, “What strikes us most as a group, even though we will interrogate those matters at the Appointments Committee, is the ambiguous creation of a new Ministry of Public Enterprise.
“Our ministries themselves are public enterprises. State-owned institutions are public enterprises. Not a while ago, he came to Parliament to pass a new legislation, putting all those enterprises under a new legislation (Act 990).
“Suffice to add that we are not dissatisfied with the cut, but the cut will be better measured when we have the full list and full complement of his ministers. But we are ready to interrogate not just the CVs, but the records of his appointees,” he said.
“What they must do clearly is to make sure that copies of handing-over notes are made available to us as required by the Presidential (Transition) Act 2012, Act 845,” the Minority Leader posited.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House