Akufo-Addo grills ministers

President Akufo-Addo yesterday started a close assessment of his ministers after one year in office.

It followed a report submitted to him by the Minister of State in-charge of Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei and his team, who assessed the ministers from 2017 to date.

The decision was said to have been taken at Cabinet meeting.

News of the president’s decision to assess the performance of his appointees seemed to have caused some level of apprehension not only among the ministers, but also their supporters, who were not certain about the faith that could possibly befall their favourites.

Most of them were quite nervy about the outcome of the meeting with the president – which was held behind closed doors.

On the bill of first batch of Ministers to face the president and his team (including Vice President Bawumia), were Albert Kan Dapaah, Minister for National Security; Trade Minister, Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen; Minister for Regional Reorganisation and Development, Dan Kwaku Botwe and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway.

The report, according to sources, sought to evaluate the performance of each minister, even though the content remains unknown.

First to meet the nation’s top leaders was Mr Albert Kan Dapaah, who some people, including his own party folks, have sought to raise questions about his competence.

Even though he held various positions in the erstwhile Kufuor-led NPP administration, observers say very little had been seen of the National Security Minister, in the face of growing concerns of mob attacks across the country, with some resulting in the killing of security personnel who are supposed to protect the citizenry.

Unlike his colleague Minister for National Security, Alan Kyerematen has often been applauded by the president for his sterling performance that has brokered a number of trade agreements and deals among Ghana and other countries.

But for the recent ‘cash for seats’ scandal which has even been dismissed with a parliamentary probe, nothing untoward had been heard about the man.

The Minister for Regional Reorganisation and Development, Mr Dan Kwaku Botwe, has however, won the hearts of many, including various traditional leaders across the length and breadth of the country because of the work his ministry is doing in the creation of some new regions from existing ones.

Meanwhile, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchway’s tenure as Minister for Foreign Affairs has seen a significant foreign interest in Ghana with several world leaders having visited the country within the past year.

Even though it is not clear what President Akufo-Addo intends to do with the report of the Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation, at the end of the day, he is expected to embark on a massive shake-up of his ministers, which would apparently see the removal of some of them and their deputies and realigning others.