The Deputy Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Ellembelle Constituency in the Western Region, Honorable Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah has strongly criticized President Akufo-Addo’s decision to make changes to his administration in less than a year to the end of his tenure.
The Deputy Minority Leader, reacting to President Akufo-Addo’s latest ministerial reshuffling, expressed his dissatisfaction with the President’s decision, and emphasized that the reshuffling was long overdue and should have been implemented when the government was facing an economic crisis and ministerial performance was underwhelming.
The Deputy Minority leader further accused President Akufo-Addo of ignoring genuine concerns and calls for change in his administration from both the Minority Caucus in Parliament and concerned citizens including some leading members in the academia and civil society organizations.
“One cannot help but wonder why it has taken President Akufo-Addo so long to acknowledge the underperformance of his ministers. Why did he not act earlier when the demands for change from the people of Ghana, the minority, and even prominent figures within his own party, including a significant number of the majority caucus members were so pronounced?”
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah
According to the Deputy Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Ellembelle, the changes made by President Akufo-Addo to his administration would not have any substantial impact on the management of the country since the action is overly delayed.
The Honorable Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah further noted that the new set of Ministers appointed by President Akufo-Addo are likely to face challenges in their respective roles which would ultimately take them a while to adjust, and with the fact that President Akufo-Addo has only 10 months remaining for his tenure to expire, it is impracticable for them to swiftly reverse the course of what he described as a ‘collapsing government’.
Calls For Proactive And Responsive Governance
Furthermore, the Deputy Minority Leader, Honorable Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah passionately added that what Ghanaians truly deserve is a proactive and responsive government that addresses their needs with a sense of urgency and not a government that prioritise it fortunes in election over the needs of its citizens.
The Member of Parliament for Ellembelle Constituency in the Western Region pointed out that President Akufo-Addo’s reshuffle appears to be a last-minute attempt to create an impression to Ghanaians as if he is addressing the poor state of the country’s economy.
“Now at the tail end, with barely 10 months to the elections, the new ministerial team will certainly face a steep learning curve”.
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah
Meanwhile, Honorable Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency, has labelled the changes made by President Akufo-Addo in his government as a ‘belated reshuffle after the ship has sunk and after the horses have bolted’.
The Honorable Ablakwa expressed skepticism about President Akufo-Addo’s reshuffling and strongly asserted that despite the reshuffle, nothing substantial is expected to change in the next nine months under the New Patriotic Party administration led by President Akufo-Addo.
In addition, the Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament accused the former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta of orchestrating an illegal withdrawal of US$58 million for the controversial US$450 million cathedral project associated with President Akufo-Addo.
The Honorable Ablakwa further accused the former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta of authorizing the controversial US$100 million Strategic Mobilsation Limited (SML) contract and other various alleged ‘atrocities’ he authorized during his tenure as the Finance Minister.
The Honorable Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa thus pledged that, the Minority in Parliament would ensure that the former Minister of Finance is held accountable and reliable for his alleged misconduct at the appropriate time.
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