Mahama fails to restore hope

The public discourse on President Mahama's 'BIG' ministerial reshuffle has so far revealed a great deal of excitement around the major surprise in what has been described in political circles as 'musical chairs' since the president began his overly prolonged reshuffle about a month ago. Dr Ekow Spio Garbrah is said to hold a lot of promise for the beleaguered Mahama administration.

The positive commentary on the choice of Spio, as he is popularly called, must have dampened to some extent the growing discontent about the lacklustre performance of the Mills-Mahama team, once described by Dr Spio Garbrah as Team B. But doubts hang over whether or not the BIG change in any way restores hope of a better Ghana within the tenure of President Mahama.

While the Public Agenda welcomes the introduction of more matured and more experienced hands into the works, it is the paper's view that this particular reshuffle cannot by any means be described as a game-changer, one that builds trust and confidence in the Mahama-led administration.

Dr Spio Garbrah is certainly a good addition to the team, not just because the move helps to mend bridges and to pre-empt the possibility of his mounting a challenge to Mahama's second-term bid for the presidency, but also because of his leadership qualities. We are however not sure if the Trade and Industry Ministry is where he will be most useful. This is the man, who headed the Ministry of Information and Communication under President Rawlings, and led the process of developing for the first time ever, a national communication strategy document to guide government's communication activities.

This is the man nick-named the 'Commander' in those days, because of the robustness and efficiency he brought to government's communication. Added to this, is the fact that, after the party lost power, Dr Spio Garbrah went to head the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, where he is said to have excelled. This no doubt, makes the man most suitable for the newly created Communications Ministry, which incorporates into it the agencies and functions of the erstwhile information ministry. There can be no denial of the fact that government communication today could do with some streamlining and robustness and having Spio in that ministry will achieve that purpose. Besides, it will bring the man closer to the President and further enhance the reconciliation objective of his appointment.

Political analysts, including Dr Amoako Baah of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ransford Gyampoh, and Franklin Cudjoe of Imani have all greeted the latest reshuffle with mixed reactions. They all seem to agree that the introduction of more experienced hands such as Dr Kunbuor and Dr Spio Garbrah is a good move, but the reshuffle itself, in their assessment, has not been far reaching enough to cause a change in the fortunes of the administration and the country. In the view of Dr Amoako Baah, the changes may have, in fact, come a bit too late.

The Public Agenda considers that in any serious reshuffle it is imperative to direct attention to those ministries that are fundamental to arresting the declining fortunes of the state and to restoring some hope that, fresh thinking and new strategies are likely to be infused into efforts at reversing the decline. In the particular context that the country finds itself, the Public Agenda believes that the Ministers of Finance; Energy and Petroleum; Trade and Industry; Health; Water Resources, Works and Housing; Justice and Attorney General; Education are potential candidates for reshuffle. This is not to suggest that these ministers have not performed. Indeed, we do not have the empirical basis to draw such conclusion. The performance targets set by the president early this year for his ministers, and other appointees can provide such basis. Unfortunately, these were not made public and so we the recipient of the services provided by the ministries and the agencies under them cannot provide the feedback necessary to help the president in his assessment of the performance of his appointees.

We are convinced, however that some re-evaluation of key competences of the said ministers is important in deciding on the best fit for each of them.

Somehow, most of the changes announced in the reshuffle affected deputy ministers, a fact, which political analysts, including Dr Loyld Amoah, a senior lecturer at Ashesi University say will have little impact on the performance of the government. Of course, one must appreciate the exigency of changing deputies where they fail to cooperate with the substantive minister to deliver on the ministry's mandate, as was the case of Nana Oye Lithur and her two former deputies.

Some of the deputy ministerial nominations made by the President are Mrs Mona Helen K. Quartey, a risk management and corporate finance expert, to be vetted to become a Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning. Mr Rickets-Hagan, former Deputy Minister for Finance, is moved to the Ministry of Trade and Industry as a Deputy Minister; Mr Acquinas Quansah moves from the Ministry of Fisheries and Aqua Culture as a Deputy Minister to the Central Region as the Regional Minister.

Others are Mrs Dela Sowah as Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Gender, Children & Social Protection; Dr Victor Asare Bampoe as Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Health; Benita Sena Okity –Duah is moving from the Gender Ministry as Deputy Minister to be a Deputy Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture; Dr. Alfred Tia Sugri is also going to the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology & Innovation as a Deputy Minister. At the ministerial level, Nii Osah Mills makes his maiden entry into government as Lands & Natural Resources minister; Julius Debrah, an old hand, as Local Gov't & Rural Development minister; Akwasi Oppong Fosu, former Local Government Minister, discarded but reintroduced after protestations at his constituency.

He now moves to Environment, Science, Technology & Innovation; Dr. Kweku Agyeman Mensah, former Ashanti Regional Minister, heads to the Health ministry; Hannah Serwah Tetteh, stays on at the Foreign Affairs & Regional Integration ministry; Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong hangs on to her Attorney General & Ministry of Justice portfolio; Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, remains in charge at Communications (now merged with Information); Mrs. Dzifa Attivor, still at Transport and others.

In the Friday, April 25, 2014 edition of the Public Agenda, we indicated our disappointment about a cabinet we had rated as B+, and issued our dream team to reverse Ghana's declining fortunes. In our analysis, we called for the removal of Hon. Seth Terkper because we thought, and still think the ministry will do with fresh ideas, especially innovative strategies for broadening the tax base, as against increasing the tax burden of those who have remained faithful in their tax payments.

We also called for the removal of the Deputy Minister, Kwaku Rickets-Hagan, and for the maintenance of the other deputy, Hon. Casel Ato Forson, an impressive performer. Though two of the paper's wishes are reflected in the changes at the Finance Ministry, the paper believes the Mahama administration would have done itself a lot of good if it had introduced a macro-economist or a development economist rather than a corporate finance person to the Finance team.

Another Ministry, which remained untouched but needs a massive shake-up, is that of Energy and Petroleum. In our analysis, we called for the removal of the sector minister, Hon. Armah Kofi Buah. Mr Buah, as earlier indicated, lacks the technical competence and experience required for the sector, which also stands in need of fresh thinking on how to sustainably resolve the country's energy challenges. Hon. Kofi Buah has our sympathy, as he finds himself caught up in a power structure he is unable to contain. The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, a state-owned enterprise under the ministry has a board chair (Mr Ato Ahoi) too powerful for the minister to contain. Ghana Gas, another state-owned enterprise under the same ministry has a chief executive (Dr Sipa Yankey) and a board chair (Dr Kwesi Botwey) too strong for Mr Buah.

The inexperience of Hon Kofi Buah has also manifested itself in attempts he made to re-locate a very senior staff of GNPC to the Ministry without recourse to the corporation's board. Though the matter seemed resolved amicably, it highlights a major weakness in the Minister's appreciation of good corporate governance.

The movement of Mrs Benita Sena Okity-Duah, a former beauty queen and Deputy Minister at the Gender Ministry to the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture, underpins the uninspiring nature of the reshuffle. Mrs Okity-Duah, apart from having her competence, and her abilities questioned as a result of the Vicky-leak Saga, made minimal to no impact when she was a deputy minister at the Gender Ministry. Many will argue that she was not given the room to operate in her former ministry, but Mrs Okity-Duah in person, does not come off as somebody with an enthusiastic and inspiring persona.

Until she became a Deputy Minister, her last employment was with Benita Sewing Solutions of which she was the CEO. She holds a Diploma in Fashion Design Technology from the London College of Fashion; Certificate in Governance and Leadership, GSGL, Accra; and an ongoing combined degree and MBA programme (Leadership and Sustainability) at the Robert Kennedy College, a private university in Switzerland.

A positive aspect of the re-shuffle which must be acknowledged, is the attempt, albeit feeble, to cut back on the cost of political administration by amalgamating two ministries, Communications, and Information and Media Relations, into one. The President would not only have boosted his public image by being a little more ambitious with his re-alignment agenda, but would have won the goodwill and support of most Ghanaians who are concern about the huge cost of government machinery. Ransford Gyampoh on Joy FM's News Night on Wednesday suggested the possible amalgamation of the Transport ministry and the Roads and Highways ministry; Ministry of Agriculture and the Fisheries and Aquaculture ministry, etc. This, he said, will substantially reduce executive expenditure and offer some immediate budgetary relief.