LIST: Cecilia Dapaah joins Akufo-Addo appointees who resigned

Political appointments come with the caveat that it is the president that hires and fires, yet there are times when an appointee fires themselves or as is formally referred to, resigns from office.

There is hardly any government that does not record resignations because appointees other want to pursue other dreams or the are forced by some negative or positive development to walk out.

The Akufo-Addo government's most recent case of resignation is of Cecilia Dapaah, the former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources.

She tendered in her resignation from the role in a letter dated July 22, 2023.

The letter was addressed to president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, among others stating her reasons for quitting and steps she intends to take going forward.

The one-time lawmaker had been mired in a controversy surrounding the theft of huge sums of monies - in local and foreign currencies - by two former maids at her private residence.

GhanaWeb lists former appointees who have resigned and their reasons

Otiko Afisa Djaba:

President Akufo-Addo's first ministerial reshuffle in 2019 triggered a notable resignation.

Then Minister of Gender, Children and Special Protection, Otiko Aafisa Djaba was removed and named as the Ghanaian Ambassador to Italy during the reshuffle, however, she respectfully rejected her new role and resigned from the government.

William Quaitoo: Prior to Djaba's resignation, a former Deputy Minister of Agriculture resigned in August, 2017. He resigned his post because of some ethnic comments he made about people from Northern Ghana.

Mr Quaittoo, 50, who was also the Member of Parliament for Akim Oda in an interview on Accra based Star FM said the people of the North are “difficult people.”

Rockson Bukari:

On April 29th, a Minister of State at the Presidency, Rockson Bukari resigned after a recording that captured him attempting to stop a Starr FM journalist from publishing a damaging story about Shaanxi Mining was leaked.

Alan Kyerematen quits

Akufo-Addo on January 6, 2023, accepted a resignation letter tendered in by the Minister for Trade and Industry John Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen.

The statement by the presidency noted that Alan Kyerematen personally informed the President of his decision to resign from his position as Trade Minister.

A caretaker minister was appointed.

Owusu Afriyie Akoto quits

Another flagbearer hopeful of the New Patriotic Party, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto resigned from the government of President Akufo-Addo in January.

The resignation of the then Minister for Food and Agriculture according to a statement by the presidency was done via a letter presented to the president on January 10, 2023.

A statement issued by the Communications Director at the Presidency, Mr Eugene Arhin, said President Akufo-Addo thanked Dr Akoto for service to the government and the nation and wished him well in his future endeavors.

A caretaker minister was appointed.

Chieftaincy Minister quits over health

The Akufo-Addo government accepted the resignation, in February 2023, of the then Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Ebenezer Kojo Kum.

This was announced in a February 3, 2023 statement from the Presidency with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo accepting his resignation.

"President Akufo-Addo thanked him for his services to the government and to the country, and wished him well in his future endeavours," the statement read in part.