Come December 7, 2020, Ghanaians will go to the polls to pass a verdict on how Akufo-Addo has steered the affairs of the country since power was passed on to him in 2016.
To help achieve his objectives for the country, Nana Akufo-Addo, upon assumption of office and in accordance with the country’s constitution appointed about 124 others into government.
The ministers were supposed to act as servants to the citizenry who in accordance with democratic principles, empowered them to act on their behalf but the conduct of some of them has left much to be desired and done the government more harm than the good they were appointed for.
Hawa Koomson may be on the chopping board now, for a reckless show of bravado and machismo that has landed her on the wrong side of public judgment but she is not the first minister to have courted outrage with her conduct.
Since being elected into office four years ago, some of Akufo-Addo’s have appointees, in the course of executing their duties, incurred public wrath with moments of irresponsibility and put the government under some unwarranted attacks.
GhanaWeb brings you a list of some ministers whose actions have drawn controversies, anger and disappointment from some Ghanaians
Hawa Koomson
Before the gun shots, was the ‘don’t expect a meaningful dam with GHC250,000 statement’.
The Minister of Special Development Initiatives, in an exclusive interview with www.ghanaweb.com defended the government’s pond-like dams, asserting that no meaningful dam could be constructed with the funds allocated.
Public fury greeted this comment by Mavis Hawa Koomson and she made attempts to justify her statement by discrediting the report but the more she tried, the more the video of her making those assertions became popular.
A little over a year later, Hawa Koomson is in the news agains for admitting to firing shots at a registration centre. Pressure is mounting on her to resign and calls for the police to prosecute her are gaining grounds.
Carlos Ahenkorah
Some described it as clownish, others say it was a biological warfare embarked on by a man selected to protect lives and both descriptions are not far from right.
At a time when the President was drumming home the need for people to try as much as possible to stay home as a means of controlling the spread of the coronavirus, one of his appointees who was a confirmed Covid-19 patient, was touring registration centres.
Unaware of the magnitude of his actions, the then Deputy Minister of Trade had the effrontery to go public on his decision, with the justification that he was asymptomatic.
His jaw-dropping confession expectedly did not sit well with right-thinking Ghanaians and less than a day after his interview, he was ‘forced’ to resign.
The resignation did not satisfy some Ghanaians who even appealed to Parliament to strip him of his privileges as a member of Ghana’s lawmaking body.
Ahomkay Lindsay
The Deputy Minister of Trade, Robert Ahomka-Lindsay is one of the first few appointees who earned public anger with some comments he made.
Ahomka-Lindsay, addressing the Diaspora Homecoming Summit at the Accra International Conference Centre in July 2017 told the diasporans to stop “whining” about things that do not work in Ghana.
He said: “Nobody likes whiners; people that spend all the time whining all the time really get on people’s nerves, so stop whining.”
The statement by the minister was not taking lightly by the diasporan community who demanded his immediate resignation.
A clarification and apology came from him as well the New Patriotic Party and that’s how he kept his position as Minister.
Otiko Djaba
Otiko’s reign as Minister of Gender, Children, and Social Protection was an eventful and controversy-filled one.
From her vetting to the point where she was reassigned and then her subsequent resignation, Otiko Afisa Djaba ruffled a lot of feathers.
The biggest of the controversies was her war with Former Northern Regional Chairman of the NPP, Bugri Naabu. The two leading NPP figures were involved a verbal brawl that caused a lot of problems for the government.
Prior to that, Otiko Djaba had angered Ghanaians with a comment which was translated as endorsing rape culture.
She was speaking as the Co-Chairperson at the 90th anniversary and Speech and Prize Giving Day for Krobo Girls Presbyterian Senior School.
She said: “In conclusion, I want to say to you, be bold, be confident, be respectful. If you wear a short dress, it’s fashionable but, know that it can attract somebody who would want to rape or defile you. You must be responsible for the choices you make.”
Her pronouncement was widely condemned by a lot of people who declared her unfit for a ministry whose core duty is to protect women and children.
Isaac Asiamah
An AFCON campaign ended with government’s head of delegation becoming the talking point and not the main actors (players).
Isaac Asiamah was caught on tape promising to fund supporters trip some tourism sites in Egypt and that did not go down well with some Ghanaians.
At a time when Ghanaians thought the practice of flying supporters and journalists to tournaments was over, Isaac Asiamah was not only airlifting supporters, he was also incurring further cost by taking them to historical centres in Egypt.
Weeks after Ghana’s exit from the tournament, some of the supporters and journalists who were on the government’s payroll were still in Egypt and that generated debate in country about Isaac Asiamah. Luckily for him, the president spared him.
Pius Hadzide
It has become some albatross around his neck. Pius’ alleged role in the Australia visa scandal is well documented and has been touted by critics as one incident that occurred where the government showed its lax attitude in the fight against corruption.
Hadzide was Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports at the time of the alleged visa fraud and racketeering which led to the deportation of about 60 people from Australia.
He, alongside the board chairman of the National Sports Authority, were suspended by the President.
The two were later reinstated after investigations by the CID cleared them of any wrongdoing. Pius was then transferred to the Information Minister as Oppong Nkrumah's deputy.
Minister of Special Development Initiatives, Mavis Hawa Koomson