General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Lawyer Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, affectionately called Sir John, has described President John Evans Atta Mills as a gargantuan failure who himself needs to be reshuffled.
To him, Wednesday’s ministerial reshuffle by President Mills is simply a ‘merry go round’ exercise of just adding and subtracting names.
President Mills released the highly anticipated reshuffle list of his cabinet late yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon with four ministers being casualties; namely, Information Minister, John Akologo Tia, Health Minister, Joseph Yieleh Chireh, Upper West Regional Minister, Issahaqu Salia and Deputy Volta Regional Minister, Col. Cyril Neku (rtd).
According to a statement signed by the Secretary to the President, J. K Bebaako-Mensah, the NDC Member of Parliament for Ablekuma South, Fritz Baffour, is the Information Minister-designate. The statement also included some new ministerial appointments: the Interior Minister, Dr. Ben Kumbour was announced as the substantive Minister of Justice and Attorney General.
Ghana’s High Commissioner to South Africa Lee Ocran is the new Education Minister-designate.
Hon. Dominic Azimbe Azumah, MP for Garu/Timpane becomes Minister of State designate at the Presidency; Ambassador Amin Amidu Sulemani, currently Ghana’s Ambassador to Egypt returns home as Minister-designate for Upper West Region while Alhaji Said Sinare takes over from him.
Whiles some political pundits consider the president’s latest reshuffle as important, especially so when the country is going into an election year, Sir John thinks otherwise.
Speaking in an interview on Okay FM, the NPP Chief Scribe said he does not see anything new with this latest reshuffle, adding that President Mills is simply trying hard to impress Ghanaians that he is busy at the Castle working.
“…the ministers who have been changed are not going to add anything new to the NDC government. It’s the same old thing that has been renamed…it does not have any importance…President Mills is a gargantuan failure and no amount of reshuffle he does will change anything. He is just adding and subtracting names…he himself needs to be removed from the seat of government…” Sir John said.
Speaking on the same issue as a panelist on PeaceFM’s “Kokrokoo” programme, Abu Jinapor, a Special Aide to the NPP flagbearer, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo, said the recent reshuffle can best be described as ‘a final kick of the dying horse’.
According to him, the NDC government is on the verge of collapse and this latest ‘musical chairs’ of a reshuffle will not help advance the course of the ruling party.
“The names are old wine in new wine bottles…The reshuffle will not in any way help the NDC win the (2012) election…” Abu Jinapor said.
