Alan, Akufo-Addo Spared By The Prez

The Statesman newspaper has learnt that President John Agyekum Kufuor expects to receive by Monday resignation letters from Cabinet Ministers who are vying to be elected as the governing party's presidential candidate in the December contest.However, there will be two major exceptions. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Alan Kyerematen, two leading contestants in the leadership race, are being asked to stay on and spend some more time with their portfolios.

The two Ministers are being asked to extend their stay as Ministers because they have two major international events to organise next month, the African Union Summit and the AGOA Forum both to be held in Accra.But solidarity may set in.The Ministers who are expected to resign soon are Kwame Addo-Kufuor (Defence), Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey (Tourism), Felix Owusu-Adjapong (Parliamentary Affairs and Majority Leader), Papa Owusu-Ankomah (Education & Sports), Mike Oquaye (Communications), and Hackman Owusu-Agyemang (Water Resources, Works & Housing).

The other two Cabinet Ministers should follow suit a week before Parliament rises on Friday, July 27. This should enable their replacements to go through vetting, if needed.But, a tidier way may still result in all eight resigning on the same day. This could see all eight minister-aspirants presenting their resignation letters to the Castle this Friday, with the resignations taking effect on the same day a month later in July. Sources close to the two exempted Ministers say they would prefer this for its solidarity principle.

A planned crunch meeting this week, featuring all eight minister-aspirants, President Kufuor, Vice President Aliu Mahama, and party leaders Peter Mac Manu and Nana Ohene Ntow may still come on before the close of the week.The 6th US-Sub Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation, known as the 6th AGOA forum is scheduled to take place from the 16th to 19th July in Accra. For two years, Mr Kyerematen, according to a senior Castle source, has been working on this forum, which will attract 38 of the 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, which are AGOA beneficiary countries.

The African Union, under the chairmanship of President Kufuor, is holding the 6th AU Summit here in Accra from June 25 - July 3, and the role of Nana Akufo-Addo as Chairman of the Executive Council of the African Union is seen to be crucial to the success of this important one item agenda summit on the grand debate for a union government for Africa. Incidentally, Nana Akufo-Addo"s campaign team had much earlier impressed upon the Minister, who has spent more time abroad this year than at home, to resign from Government after the AU summit to spend more time with his campaign. News from the Castle confirming his resignation has therefore been greeted with some jubilation at the campaign office in Kokomlemle.

Also, some leading members of the Alan team, including one Cabinet colleague, had also been pushing for his resignation before August. Still, the President’s move last week Tuesday, demanding their resignations within a week, took everybody by surprise, triggering reactions of dissent even from the Ministers who were planning to tender their resignation letters. It is recalled that President Kufuor met his minister-aspirants Tuesday, June 12 and advised them to resign within a week to pursue their presidential ambitions. But, another meeting was scheduled when objections were raised by the group. However, The Statesman was reliably informed that the President’s mind was made up and that he was not going to back down.

Though the Ministers have all exhibited various forms of unhappiness with the presidential 'counsel’, they are all said to be resigned to preparing their handing over notes this week. Ironically, only about five or six of the nine Cabinet members, including the Vice President, currently campaigning, were expected to file once nominations opened on September 15. But, now all of them may go all the way to the contest, when in fact the party constitution and the President’s resignation threat would have been expected to trigger the opposite effect.

This is because to opt to abandon your campaign now to protect your ministerial position in the face of a much-publicised presidential ultimatum to leave government now, could open you up for public ridicule. As things stand now, all eight known minister-aspirants intend to intensify their campaigns from July. Besides the nine aspirants in Cabinet, there are nine others also campaigning. Top among them are Dan Botwe, former NPP General Secretary; Yaw Osafo-Maafo, former Finance Minister and Kofi Konadu Apraku, former Trade Minister.

Ghana was given the honour of hosting the African Union leaders for their mid-year summit in recognition of its 50th anniversary of nationhood and its role in founding the Union. Preparatory sessions start on 25th June and the events run to July 3. The first, on 25-26 Jun, is the 14th Ordinary Session of the Permanent Representatives Committee. The AU leaders will meet Jun 28-29 for the 11th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council. The events will culminate with the 9th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly from Sunday July 1-3.

Two weeks after Ghana plays host once again to nearly 40 African nations. The theme of the AGOA forum is: "As Trade Grows, Africa Prospers: Optimising the Benefits Under AGOA."The Accra forum will be preceded by an experts’ meeting on July 16, 2007 and a meeting of the African Ministerial Consultative Group on July 17, 2007, followed by the main event from July 18-19. The Minister of Trade, Industry, PSI & Private Sector Development was very instrumental in getting Ghana to qualify under the African Growth and Opportunity Act and has been most passionate in his efforts to use AGOA to help revive the country’s textile and garment industry.

The AGOA forum, which takes place annually, is an essential element of the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The Accra forum will bring together the governments of the United States and AGOA eligible countries, as well as representatives from the private sector and civil society. Participants will discuss how to optimise the opportunities offered under AGOA legislation, with a particular focus on ways the small and medium scale business sector can address the challenges of exporting.