Minister for Roads and Transport Fired

The Minister for Roads and Transport, Edward Salia has been relieved of his ministerial appointment by Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings in such a subtle manner that many Ghanaians do not even know that it happened.

One of his deputies, Steve Akorli, MP, is acting in his stead. Unlike previous times when official announcements heralded ministers’ loss of portfolios, the Castle relieved Salia of his post on Rawlings’ orders much to the surprise of some of his cabinet colleagues.

Speculations are rife as to what could have precipitated Salia’s removal from office. The Accra Mail has tumbled on a few pieces of information.

There is no contention that relations between Salia and Rawlings strained sometime last year, when the latter took an aerial view of the Tema coastline and was not happy with what was done to clear the area of sunken ships that made navigation to the Tema port difficult for ships.

Visibly angered by what he saw, Rawlings vented his displeasure on Salia and since then things have never been the same between the two.

A couple of years ago Salia was diagnosed to be ill with throat cancer and was flown to Cuba for treatment. A Castle source told The Accra Mail that though Edward Salia is one of the most hardworking ministers of state, medical doctors feared he could suffer a premature relapse in his condition if he continued in his job.

At present, he is a minister without portfolio, which effectively puts him away from mainstream cabinet deliberations. The question then arises as to why the country could not be told that the minister had to be relieved of his post for health reasons if that was the underlying factor. Some people this paper spoke to were of the view that a public announcement could have done the NDC government some damage in this election year.

A cabinet source told The Accra Mail that it would be preposterous to announce the dismissal of a cabinet minister at this time as it could have a rebound effect on the party’s electoral fortunes.

Asked whether the Castle could not wait till after the elections when sitting ministers would have been officially jobless, the source contended that this could be a matter for conjecture. Salia won an over ?42 million libel suit against the Ghanaian Chronicle last year for an alleged underhand dealing with a telecoms company, which the source ruled out as a possible reason why he was relieved of his post.

In a country replete with allegations of financial impropriety by public office holders, subtly stripping ministers of their portfolios naturally sends tongues wagging as to the underlying causes of such actions. Flt. Lt. Rawlings has stated on many occasions that he would descend heavily on any of his lieutenants found engaged in shady deals. Even though cases bordering on such demeanours have cropped up at one time or the other, no tangible deterring actions have been taken. Perhaps the spate of corruption in African countries, Ghana not an exception informed his SOS call on the international community to help stamp out this national canker.

According to an Accra newspaper, the Press Secretary of the NDC, Mr. Vincent Asiseh has amassed so much wealth within eight years that he has become the subject of investigations by the Internal Revenue Service. Though he claimed to have relied on loans and other sources, speculations are rife to the effect that he used his position to build his economic empire.