Dr Kwame Asah-Asante, a political Science Lecturer at the University of Ghana, has requested that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo gives instructions to all Managing Directors (MDs) of state agencies that he appointed, who are openly supporting the candidates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He asserted that it is not encouraging for Ghana’s democracy, when leaders of governmental organizations openly engage in partisan politics.
His remarks follow a request from NPP Presidential candidate, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong to President Akufo-Addo to ask all heads and managing directors of state agencies like the National Lottery Authority (NLA) and the State Transport Corporation (STC) not to publicly participate in the election process to choose a flagbearer for the NPP for the 2024 general election.
Speaking on this issue, Dr Asah-Asante said “I think Mr. Agyepong was apt on the issue. What he talks about is that you are ahead of institutions or public officers, and there is no point you being part of active politics, it is contrary to the rules of the game.”
“I support his call that the President must rein them in, so that they stay away from that direct political affairs, it doesn’t bode well for democracy.”
Kwame Asah-Asante
MDs Can’t Openly Join Campaign Trail
In order to elect a flagbearer for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the general elections of 2024, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, a presidential candidate for the NPP, requested that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo asked all heads and managing directors of state agencies, such as the National Lottery Authority (NLA) and the State Transport Corporation (STC), not to publicly participate in the campaign trail.
Although the leaders of these institutions are chosen through political processes, Mr. Agyepong claimed that because they are state institutions, they should be held to the same standards of corporate governance.
“When you have a lot of presidential appointees, not ministers; ministers are political so they can do what they want to do, but public officers like the Managing Director of Bui Dam, or like the Managing Director of State Transport Corporation or the Director General of the Ghana Lottery, State Housing Corporation, these are public officers who should be guided by the rules of corporate governance. You are put in place and you work for Ghana.
“It is a political appointment, we accept that and you can support people quietly but outwardly leaving your job and joining the campaign trail, I think it is unacceptable. For me, it goes against governance procedures and I think if you are a political appointee, what the president could have done was to have asked the Chief of Staff to rein them in.”
Kwabena Agyei Agyepong
Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has informed the NPP that he will support a candidate for flagbearer if he can defeat John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Mr. Akufo-Addo reiterated that he likes to support a candidate who can also bring the party together.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) tradition, according to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, depends on ideas from serious minds that have been tested and made workable, not on those of a single person. He asserted that no one could persuade NPP members to act in a manner similar to sheep obeying a shepherd.
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