Mahama’s “Northnerlization” of Government

*By Akadu Ntiriwa Mensema

President John Mahama’s special appointees to spearhead the execution of the President’s Special Projects: Alban Bagbin, Cletus Avoka, Dr. Stephen Ayidiga! Why are they all “Northerners”? Let us think and ask new questions. This office must be diversified. Mahama pontificates about inclusion, but uses exclusionary “tribalistic” tools as his instruments of policy.

Ah! These “Tribal” appointments

My delirious critics

Flaunting preposterous victory laps

Flaunting pedagogic vanities

Flaunting pivoted narratives

Of exclusionisms

Of hubristic arrogance

Like vultures in dance

Like house flies in dance

Like mosquitoes in dance

My delirious critics are dunce-ing

Ah! These “Tribal” appointments

My delirious critics

They tell me JJ did it

They tell me Kufour was bad

They tell me Mills was the worse

So they tell me Mahama should do it

They tell me Mahama can be the worst

And they poise withering darts at me

Bearing insinuations

Bearing insults

Bearing cacophonies

They call me all sorts of names

Akadu the slut

Akadu the prostitute

Akadu the community college prof

Akadu the bigot

They call me all sorts of names

For being bold, blunt and brave

For speaking truth to power

For telling them what they already know

For pathing a movement away

From “tribalism”

From cronyism

From nepotism

From regionalism

From corruption

From pen-armed robbery

They call me all sorts of names

For telling them we should cradle it all

Inclusion to sew up our divides

Unity to bring us together

Diversity to make us whole

Equity to promote excellence

They call me names

They say it is their season of harvest

Of “tribalistic” harvests

Of “tribalistic” plunder

But all seasons wither

They ask why I didn’t critique Kufour

As if Kufour is the beginning and end of time

As if my watershed flows both ways

So let us celebrate “tribalism”

Our seasons of anomic politics

Our seasons of anemic politics

Our seasons of anomalous politics

Let us celebrate Mahama

For he is becoming the worst “tribalist”

Yes, JJ did it

Yes, Kufour did

Yes, Atta Mills did

So Mahama must do it

So let us celebrate “tribalism”

Our seasons of anomic politics

Our seasons of anemic politics

Our seasons of anomalous politics

A PARTIAL LIST OF MAHAMA'S “NORTHNERLIZED” CABINET

(Source: Office of the President at Flagstaff House, Accra, Ghana).

1. Moses Asaga - Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA)

2. Dr. Raymond Akongburo Atuguba - Executive Secretary to the President

3. Dr. Clement Apaak – Presidential Staffer

4. Dr. Sulley Gariba - Senior Policy Co-ordinator in the Office of the President

5. Abdulai John Jinapor - Deputy Minister of energy and petroleum

6. Mark Owen Woyongo - Minister for Defence

7. Mohammed Ahmed Alhassan - Inspector General of Police (IGP)

8. Patrick Timbillah – Ghana Police, Director-General of Human Resources Development

9. Amin Amidu Sulemana - Minister for Roads and Highways

10. H. Seidu Daanaa - Minister for Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs

11. Alhaji Nasiru Isahaku - 2nd Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana

12. Alhaji Mohammed Suraji - Director of the Community Police Unit

13. Alhaji Imoro Alhassan – Executive Director Ghana National Service Scheme

14. Alhaji Mustapha Ahmed - Minister of State at the Presidency in charge of Development Authorities in the Office of the President

15. Alhaji Alhassan Azong - Minister of State at the Presidency in charge of Public Sector Reform

16. Alhaji Limuna Mohammed Muniru - Minister of State at the Presidency in charge of Human Resource Development and Scholarships

17. Alhaji Abdul Rashid Hassan Pelpuo - Minister of State at the Presidency in charge of Public-Private Partnerships

18. Alhaji Haruna Iddrisu - Minister for Trade and Industry

19. Alhaji Inusah Fuseini - Minister for Lands and Natural Resources

20. Alhaji Ziblim Yakubu - Chief Director of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing

21. Dr. B. Bewa-Nyog Kunbuor - Minister in-charge of Government Business

22. Mahama Ayariga - Minister for Information and Media Relations

23. Collins Dauda - Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing

24. Nayon Bilijo - Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development

25. Joyce Bawah Mogtari - Deputy Ministry of Transport

26. Ephraim Avea Nsoh - Upper East Region

27. Bede Anwataazumo Ziedeng - Upper West Region

28. Moses Bukari Mabengba - Northern Region

29 -31. Mahama’s special appointees to spearhead the execution of the President’s Special Projects:

29. Alban Bagbin

30. Cletus Avoka

31. Dr. Stephen Ayidiga

32. Suhiyini Alhassan (Radio DJ) now - Board member of the Airport Company

33. James Agalga – Deputy Ministry of Interior

34. Dr. Tia Sugri – Deputy Ministry of Health

35. Dr. Alhassan Ahmed Yakubu –Deputy Ministry of Food & Agriculture

36. Benjamin Dagadu – Deputy Ministry of Energy and Petroleum

37. Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed –Deputy Ministry of Information & Media Relations

38. Mohammed Baba Ahmed Jamal –Deputy Ministry of Local Government & Rural Development

39. Dr. Musheibu Mohammed- Alfa - Deputy Ministry of Environment, Science, Tech & Innovation

40. A.B.A. Fuseini - Deputy Regional Minister for the Northern Region

41. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine – Deputy Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General’s Department

**AKADU Ntiriwa Mensema, Ph. D., is a nationalist Denkyira beauty. She is a trained oral historian cum sociologist and Professor in the USA. She lives in Pennsylvania with her great mentor and teaches Africa-area studies at a college in Maryland. In her pastime, she writes what critics have called “populist hyperbolic, satirical” poetry. She can be reached at akadumensema@yahoo.com. Her poems and essays on Ghanaweb and elsewhere must not be reproduced in full or in part for any academic or scholarly work without her written permission.