‘Traitors and opportunists’- Dr Kofi Amoah jabs resigning ministers

Outspoken businessman and economist, Dr Kofi Amoah, has criticised ministers who have announced their resignations from the Akufo-Addo administration.

Dr Amoah in a series of tweets said the decision of those ministers smacks of selfishness, especially because they are leaving at a time the country’s economy is in a nadir state.

His comments come following the recent resignations of Trades and Industry Minister Alan Kyerematen and Agric Minister, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto.

The two have resigned to focus on their presidential ambitions as the NPP race to elect a new flagbearer ahead of the 2024 general elections.

Kofi Amoah is of the firm belief that people who have no sense of duty and are comfortable leaving when things are going wrong to pursue their personal glory are either traitors or opportunists who should not be trusted.

“A Captain exchanging a damaged sinking ship for an imaginary unbuilt ship is a traitor and an opportunist, who cannot be trusted. Ghana needs captains with selfless determination to stay the course and not those who resign in times of distress. Please watch their actions, not their words.”

A Captain exchanging a damaged sinking ship for an imaginary unbuilt ship is a traitor n an opportunist, who cannot be trusted

Gh needs captains with selfless determination to stay the course n not those who resign in time of distress

Pls watch their actions, not their words… pic.twitter.com/m4wdSIqpuR

— CitizenKofi (@amoah_citizen) January 14, 2023,

Explaining further in an interview with GhanaWeb, Dr Amoah surmises that, “ The resignations of Cabinet Ministers to go pursue their personal ambitions to become president must be analyzed properly for meaning and significance.

The time fit captains to abandon their ships is not when it’s sinking… that’s when their passion and commitment to their passengers are most needed to take them to safety.

Often people already had ambitions to be president before they took up ministerial and cabinet positions… did they use these positions for riches, power and popularity to underwrite their goals for the presidency or they genuinely took the positions to help the affairs of the country.

As they say “The future is unknown but you can manage it a bit by what you do today.”

Ghanaians must begin to be more perceptive in their assessment of how to select leaders so that we can stop getting it wrong most of the time.”

Alan Kyerematen and Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto resign

Minister of Trade and Industry, John Alan Kyerematen earlier this month resigned from the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government.

The former diplomat tendered his resignation on January 5, 2023.

Alan is one of the frontline candidates expected to contest for the flagbearership of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Others include Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, Assin Central Member of Parliament (MP) Kennedy Agyapong and former NPP General Secretary, Kwabena Agyepong.

Three days after Alan’s resignation, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, Minister for food and Agriculture also resigned from the Government.

Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto was appointed Minister of Food and Agriculture in 2017 and has served in that capacity for six years.

Dr Akoto led the design and implementation of the Government’s flagship Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme – a policy intended to address the declining growth in the country’s agricultural sector.

The PFJ was launched on April 19, 2017, at Goaso in the Ahafo Region and has since become a key instrument in the Government’s efforts to transform the agriculture sector.

DO