Former President John Dramani Mahama has presented a political diagnosis on what he believes is fueling President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's inability to fight corruption or incompetence among his appointees.
According to Mahama, he has severally offered guidelines to the sitting president on the best ways around these, but he has refused to take any of them.
The former president explained that this has become even more evident as President Nana Akufo-Addo ceased engaging with the people who put him in political office.
"Unfortunately, even though I said some of these things in my first speech at Ghana at The Crossroads, the president has refused to take these measures. He no longer talks to the people; no major address to the people about our current situation; no interviews with the press, and so definitely, I don't know when he's going to take advantage," he said.
John Dramani Mahama further outlined why he believes the president cannot effectively fight corruption and incompetence in his government.
Among the reasons, he said, is the blood relations President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has with some of his appointees.
"His finance minister is his cousin; he's afraid to fire him, or because of the relations they have, he's not inclined to do so. Many of the ministers who have superintended over ministries that are non-performing have some political links with the president, and therefore, it makes it impossible for him to remove them from their positions even when he can see that some of those ministers have presidential ambitions.
"I mean, it should be easy to remove them so they can concentrate on their presidential ambitions, but not this president," he said.
John Dramani Mahama made these statements in a video clip shared on Wednesday, August 31, 2022, edition of Metro TV's Good Morning Ghana show monitored by GhanaWeb.
Earlier, and on the same subject, GhanaWeb published an article on "Why Akufo-Addo may be reluctant to reshuffle ministers."
Among these reasons was the relationship the president may have with some of his appointees which puts him in a compromising position.
These suggestions came on the back of comments by the president that he has no immediate plans to cause any changes in his government as such a move will only destabilise his administration.
This, however, has not attracted any relent in the ever-growing pressure on the president to relieve some of his ministers of their positions.
A government of family and friends
One of the key targets of the calls for a ministerial reshuffle is the current Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
Mr Ofori-Atta, who is a cousin of the president, is being accused by his critics of failing to properly manage the Ghanaian economy resulting in the current economic challenges.
His likes and other ministers, including the Agric Minister, Owusu Afriyie Akoto, who has close ties with the president and Roads Minister, Kwasi Amoako-Attah, who is considered a relative of the president, have also emerged as some of the individuals to be considered in a ministerial reshuffle.
This has fueled assertions by some critics that the president may be reluctant to dismiss or reassign some of his ministers because of his personal relations with them.
"One of the dangers of having so many family and friends in one government, like we are experiencing under an obviously uncaring Nana Akufo-Addo, is the sense of entitlement that comes with it," Special Aide to former President John Dramani Mahama, Joyce Bawa Mogtari said in a Twitter post,
According to her, the president's appointees are acting as if they own the ministries and sectors they oversee due to his refusal to fire them despite their poor performances.
"You literally create a pseudo-fiefdom, and the persons who manage fiefdoms act as if they are owners of all that they survey.
"Unsurprisingly, the leader of the fiefdom is unable to reshuffle them even after such an abysmal performance that has foisted on the people, economic hardship and hunger," she stated.
A quest to protect interests and secrets?
The president's persistent refusal to reshuffle his appointees has in part been attributed to efforts to protect some secrets of the current administration.
This assertion was shared by a leading member of the New Patriotic Party, Dr Amoako Baah.
"Any government that finds it distasteful to reshuffle ministers has too many secrets, and this is why they don't want new eyes and ears because the same one who is there plays the game and let's keep it going; that's part of the equation," Dr Amoako Baah who is a political science lecturer at the University of Ghana told Joynews in an interview.
Resource starved appointees can't be sacked
In his interview with Joynews, Dr Amoako further alluded that the president's failure to cause a reshuffle in his government is due to his inability to resource his appointees properly.
According to him, the performance of the appointees could be attributed to the lack of resources given to them hence the president's failure to hold them accountable.
"How are you going to do that? …Talk to Parliamentarians; they will tell you Common Fund never go there. How are they going to be assessed? You were never given the money you needed to work, so based on what are you going to decide competence to ensure that you fire them," Dr Amoako Baah asked.
A satisfied president defends the performance of his appointees
In an interview on North Star radio, President Akufo-Addo, while responding to calls for a reshuffle in his government following the recent economic crisis in the country, said that he is satisfied with the performance of his appointees and sees no need to heed the calls.
"Many of them, for me, have done outstanding work. Their output has been considerable, and that is what I look at," he stated.
According to the president, calls for the dismissal of his appointees may be fuelled by persons looking for job opportunities and also some NDC members whose actions may be aimed at undermining government.
"The calls come for all kinds of reasons; NDC wanting to destabilise the government is one. There are people who are also looking for jobs," he said.
Effects of a hung parliament
The dynamics of Ghana's current parliament has brought about various issues.
With an almost equal number of representation on both sides of the house, the president may be compelled to be tactful in his appointments and dismissals.
With the history of the government's struggles to acquire the needed numbers for the approval of bills, it is imperative that the number of ministers appointed from parliament is well balanced.
This is on the back of the many instances of ministers from parliament being absent while on official duty during business in the house.
Again, a reshuffle by the president may see him having to contend with disgruntled MPs who will be relieved from their ministerial positions. This is because these persons may lack the motivation to participate in government business in the house.
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John Dramani Mahama is Ghana's former president