Ambassadors stranded

Several of the individuals who were appointed as Ghana’s Ambassadors and High Commissioners to various countries still do not know their fate several months after their names were made public.

Most of the envoys-designate continue to wonder when they would be issued with their letters of credence for them to proceed to their assigned countries, even though they had taken the oaths of office and secrecy.

Most of Ghana’s foreign missions have been with no ambassadors for almost one year since all envoys were recalled in October, 2013 – making room for the nomination of their replacements.

This is said to be affecting operations at the missions abroad.

So far, two out of about 25 persons who were nominated have received their letters of credence and proceeded to their assigned countries to work.

They are former Director of Monitoring and Evaluation at the Presidency, Dr. Tony Aidoo, who has since assumed office as Ghana’s Ambassador to the Netherlands with responsibility for The Hague; and his colleague former Eastern Regional Minister, Victor Emmanuel Smith, now serving the country in the United Kingdom.

Apart from the two, the fate of the rest hangs in the balance since none of them has yet received the letter of credence; and there are speculations that the list has been reshuffled, further delaying the posting of the envoys.

As at press time yesterday, DAILY GUIDE had learnt that most of the nominees were sitting on tenterhooks as they were not sure whether they were not going to be dropped, even though they had gone through orientation organized by the Foreign Ministry. Attempts to speak to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hanna Serwaa Tetteh, were not successful.

The ‘waiting envoys’ include former Information Minister, John Akologu Tia; former Northern Regional Minister, Moses Mabengba; former Secretary to Cabinet, Ben C. Eghan; Managing Editor of Accra Mail, Alhaji Haruna Attah and former Minister of Youth and Sports, Akua Sena Dansua.

The rest are former Minister of Tourism, Zita Sabah Okaikoi; former Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, Kwadwo Nyamekye Marfo; former Upper West Regional Minister, Mahmoud Khalid; former Acting Chief Executive (CEO) of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), Sam Pee Yalley; brother of the late President John Evans Atta Mills, Dr Cadman Mills and a host of others.

Most of these personalities were appointed in the latter part of 2013.

Serial Callers

Meanwhile, some of the stranded envoys-designate have turned into serial callers, executing the propaganda agenda of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) on air.

Confusion

Apart from the issue of letters of credence, no specific reason has been given for the continuous stay in the country of the ambassadors designate.

DAILY GUIDE sources at the Flagstaff House, the seat of government, have hinted that the President intends to embark on yet another reshuffle of the list. This, the sources said, was in view of the fact that the list that contained the names of the appointees and the countries assigned to them was leaked to the media.

However, the release that announced the appointment of the aforementioned individuals and their other colleagues did not specifically indicate the countries they would be going to, except that they were ambassadors designate.

Zita Okaikoi, for instance, was said to have been designated to become Ghana’s High Commissioner to South Africa while Haruna Attah was pencilled to go to Namibia.

Dr. Cadman Mills was also said to have been tipped to be the country’s Ambassador to the United States of America, replacing Daniel Ohene Agyekum – now Cocobod Chairman; while Sam Pee Yalley was scheduled to take over as Ghana’s High Commissioner to India.

Some of the ambassadors-designate declined comment when reached on phone yesterday.

Attempts to get an official response from government on the issue proved futile since the Information and Media Relations Minister and his Deputies would not answer calls on their phones.

The paper’s sources have it that some of these individuals have indeed been cleared by the countries they have been assigned to and are only waiting for their letters of credence to assume duty.