Mahama must get serious and appoint able people – Akomea

Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Akomea has expressed worry over the continued appointment of ministers without prior notice to the appointees.

He said the culture has led to instances where many square pegs have been put into round holes.

His comments follow confessions from new ministerial and deputy ministerial appointees many of who claim they heard their appointments on radio.

Murtala Mohammed who is the deputy Information Minister designate said he heard of his appointment from a journalist.

Another appointee said she was in a salon when she said her name being mentioned on radio as minister of state.

Nana Akomea who was speaking on Multi-TV and Joy FM’s news analysis programme Newsfile said the practice is awful.

Even though he conceded that practice cuts across all governments he maintained the presidency, who is the appointee authority must inculcate the standard practice of private sector appointment into public service.

He said even when management of Multimedia wants to hire a person for a managerial position prospective applicants go through a certain level of interviews before they are appointed.

He wondered why a minister or his deputy who is going to take oversight responsibility of a whole ministry and the whole country will not be assessed by the president before the appointment.

Nana Akomea said the president must at least have fifteen minutes of interview with his prospective appointees and find out their strengths and weaknesses before they are appointed.

He said 50 per cent of Ghana’s ministers have under-performed because they have been appointed into places they have little knowledge about.

He said having criticised John Kufuor’s government, which had a size of 82 ministers, it is shocking for John Mahama to appoint 85.

According to him, having six ministers at the presidency in charge of banking, scholarships is only a duplication of responsibilities.

He said at a time when government is complaining that there is no money to provide the basic amenities like water, gas and electricity it ought to be leading by example by appointee a lean government.

A lawyer, Ernest Thompson who was also on the show said it is time the country looked at efficiency and not necessarily the cost implications in appointing ministers.

He challenged those who claim the country can be run with at most 50 ministers to back their claim with scientific evidence, failure which the claim will eternally remain political talk.