• He said that he had to convince Henry Quartey to accept the post
• He has commended him but believes that the minister cannot do the job alone
He has been a shining light in the second term of the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo presidency with commendations from most Ghanaians on his head-on approach in dealing with the capital city’s problems.
Pictures of him in bulldozers and motivating law enforcement agencies to rid the city of chaos are shared to extol him as a public servant worth his salt.
But it turns out that Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, was not opened to the idea of becoming minister, according to Kennedy Agyapong, a fellow lawmaker and member of the New Patriotic Party, NPP.
According to him in an audio clip posted on YouTube, Quartey was eyeing a role at National Security as Deputy Minister and was unhappy when he was informed that he will be the regional minister.
Kennedy Agyapong disclosed that he had to convince Henry Quartey to see reason in accepting the job handed him as the Greater Accra Regional Minister.
The Assin Central MP is happy that Henry Quartey listened to his advice and has done remarkably well in his new role.
“When he was given the post, he didn’t like it. He was unhappy but I sat him down and told him it’s not all about money but impact. Take this step, take this, take that and I take credit for it. One good thing he did was not to politicize what he is going to do. "He called NDC and NPP MPs in Greater Accra to tell them about the need to change things in the capital. He preferred deputy minister of National Security to Greater Accra but I told him to take it and make a difference. I’m proud that he is my boy and doing so well."
Kennedy Agyapong however believes that Henry Quartey cannot turn Accra around if the residents remain adamant in doing the wrong things.
"You look at what the Greater Accra Regional Minister is doing and people are complying, it shows leadership is also very important but I’m saying that the minister cannot go to every district in Greater Accra to tell them to do the right thing. He cannot, so we all have to change," he added.
Greater Accra regional minister Henry Quartey