Assess competence level of Mahama’s ministerial nominees - Lecturer

A senior lecturer at the University of Winneba, Dr. Ahmed Jinapor, says the recent ministerial appointments by President John Dramani Mahama should be assessed based on their competencies rather than the timing of their nominations.

Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho, on Tuesday, July 12, 2016, read a communiqué informing the Members of the legislature about the ministerial nominations by the President.

In the said communiqué, the President had nominated three deputy ministers, Emmanuel Bombade, John Oti Bless and Joseph Agmor Tetteh for Foreign Affairs & Regional Integration, Local Government & Rural Development and the Eastern Region.

The Minority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, commenting on the appointments told the President to appoint a substantive minister for the Power Ministry rather than the deputies.

In his view, the country was yet overcome the power crisis but the President had failed to appoint a substantive minister to superintend the affairs of the sector.

He also complained about the timing of the appointment which he said was not necessary because those positions, in his view, were been managed by the substantive ministers in charge of those ministries.

But Dr. Jinapor commenting on the position of the Minority Leader on TV3’s New Day Program on Saturday said the ministerial nominations were within the ambit of the President.

He said, President Mahama by law, has the power to make appointments at any time of the day within the four-year period he is mandated to govern the country.

Nonetheless, he said if there should be any comment or analysis on the ministerial appointments, the focus should be on the competence level of the nominees rather than the timing.

His suggestion was supported by Lawyer Kwame Jantuah from the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) who also appeared on the program.