Senior Minister to Senior Advisor: Yaw Osafo-Maafo’s ‘senior’ comeback

Yaw Osafo-Maafo announced his new role as a Senior Advisor to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday at a meeting with Birim Central Municipal Assembly officials at Akyem Oda in the Eastern Region.

Almost all media houses reporting the development are citing the state-owned Daily Graphic report of April 13, 2021; that said the former minister disclosed that he had been appointed to the role last week by the president.

The development means that the former Finance Minister under the John Agyekum Kufuor government had gone from Senior Minister position months back to a senior presidential advisor.

Osafo-Maafo an engineer and professional banker was last engaged in a tug-of-war with the former Auditor General, Daniel Yaw Dormelevo, whose report in the Kroll and Associates saga indicted the minister.

Many analysts believe that Dormelevo’s effrontery to go after the person of Osafo-Maafo contributed to how he was literally chased out of office by the executive.

Earlier this year, the government announced the scrapping of the Senior Minister portfolio as part of cost-cutting measures implemented by the president, he was also not nominated for any substantive ministerial portfolio.

The belief would have been that he will play some behind-the-scenes role but as we await official confirmation from the presidency of Osafo-Maafo’s new role, all eyes will be on what goes into his mandate as a presidential advisor.

The last known announcement of top officials around the president was on January 19 when a statement from the presidency announced the retention of Akosua Frema Osei Opare as Chief of Staff and the appointment of Isaac Owusu Mensah as head of research.

Other new appointees included Emmanuel Adumua-Bossman [a.k.a. Carlos don Brazi, which is the name he is commonly for in NPP circles] and Fawaz Aliu as the two new Deputy Chiefs Of Staff to replace Francis Asenso Boakye and Samuel Abu Jinapor who are now Members of Parliament.

Brief about Yaw Osafo-Maafo

Yaw Osafo-Maafo was last (till his latest appointment) a Senior Minister of the Republic of Ghana, reputed as an exemplary banker, consultant, politician and statesman.

He started his career as an engineer at the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) and went on to head and successfully restructure two major development banks – The Bank for Housing and Construction and The National Investment Bank.

Furthermore, he was also active as a consultant for international development organisations, including the World Bank and UNDP.

Yaw Osafo-Maafo was previously the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning (2001-2005) and received several awards for his achievements. This was followed by his tenure as Minister for Education and Sports from 2005 to 2006.

Osafo-Maafo has served on the boards of various financial institutions and corporate bodies and was the past Vice-President of the Executive Committee of the West African Bankers Association.