Senior Minister Blasts Critics

Hon. John Henry Mensah, Senior Minister and Chairman of the Government Economic Management Team, has finally struck back at critics who saw his removal from Parliament as majority leader as a big blow to his political career.

"You know people make all these funny interpretations because there knowledge of Government and political science are little bit short. And I was amazed about some of the things that were said at the time but you know I did not comment, the important thing is that the Government must get its economic policies right, it has to get its programmes implemented, it has to harmonise its activities so that money is spent to the effect hence when you are asked to concentrate all your energy on that matter you grab it with all your emotion."

That was J H Mensah. Hon. J H Mensah's reaction has come exactly three months following his redeployment from Parliament as majority leader to the post of a Senior Minister and Chairman of the Government Economy Management Team.

When President John Agyekum Kufuor announced his Cabinet reshuffle barley three months ago, there were carping remarks from a section of the public that nearly culminated in the idea that JAK's Cabinet reshuffle was a means of silencing some of his lieutenants that were perceived as becoming untouchable. Prominent among them was Hon. J H Mensah, a man with a long serving record as a public servant, indeed an experienced Civil Servant.

Since then, Hon. J H Mensah had remained quiet, never had he argued out his case with his critics or tried to explain his exit from the House as the Majority Leader, and even his role as described by his current position in Government until Chronicle caught up with him at what has now been described as camp Elmina.

Hear him: "Yes, you know ,for the four years beginning 1996, I was fully engaged in parliamentary work, of course we were not in government and therefore my job consisted of leading the minority side of Parliament.

"After we won the election, I combined leading Parliament with managing the Government Economic policy.

"And indeed, I was very much tied up with all negotiations that we had to do with financial institutions and so on. That I did in a course of a year but by October last year, the President decided that we needed to change gear on our economic policy management because the period of stabilization is one thing, we come stand to deliver the economic policy goals of our Government at an accelerated pace.

"And so, the president himself has had a lot more on hand dealing with the volume decision making and all that are coming out.

"So, the president decided that I should drop all my parliamentary responsibilities and concentrate on the economy and right now what I do is to manage the economic committee of the Cabinet which drives in the midst of the economic management team"

He expressed regret that people had to make those funny interpretations that were made at that time, adding "in any case the Government took the trouble to say that J. H. Mensah is the Senior Minister, so how could they say that Senior Minister is a demotion or it does not exist anywhere as a ministry?"

He queried, "What do they mean the position does not exist ? The President has been given a job to do and is mandated to create the machine that is needed to do the job, the idea that something does not exist because the last President did not do it, that again is a hangover .. of institutional conservative".

Hon. J H Mensah was not only criticised for his new role but the creation of additional ministries by the NPP administration which was so vocal against the huge number of cabinet ministers in the former administration was also of concerned to Government critics.

Again Hon. JH Mensah had this to say: "Is the number of ministerial appointees higher or lower then the NDC's? He queried, and continued, "it is lower than under the NDC,"

"It is just that he (JAK) has created new positions but there were lots of positions under the NDC which have been done away with.

"So, if ex- President Rawlings had a large number of ministers hanging around the Castle (the Seat of Government)..you see people should take arithmetic odd numbers, what are the number of people holding positions of ministers of state now and against the former government.

"But as to how you rearrange that number in terms of job description or so on doesn't matter. But one important thing I want to stress even if the President subscribed to more ministers of state than former President Rawlings was doing but he knows what he is going to do with those positions, then I won't mind because some of those people who used to be sitting around the Castle they had no definable jobs and that is exactly what we were complaining about."