Valentine's Day reshuffle: Akufo-Addo sacked MPs who lost their primaries or are not contesting for parliament

On Tuesday, February 14, 2024, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo officially reshuffled some of his ministerial appointees following earlier reports of a massive shake-up in the government.

In all, the president changed 23 of his appointees, including ministers, deputy ministers, and a regional minister, firing 16 of them and reassigning 7 of them.

A careful look at the list shows that none of the fired appointees, particularly the deputy ministers, are contesting to become Members of Parliament in the 2024 general elections. They were replaced by persons who would be contesting to enter parliament.

In fact, most of them lost in the ruling New Patriotic Party's parliamentary primaries to elect candidates for the 2024 general elections.

Is sacking these ministers and deputy ministers a punishment for losing the primaries? Is this the president helping the NPP parliamentary candidates in the 2024 elections? Or is it a mere coincidence?

Here are the appointees who were fired after losing their parliamentary primaries:

Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources Freda Prempeh is the MP for Tano North in the Ahafo Region, and she lost in the NPP primaries.

Hajia Lariba Zuweira Abudu, Minister of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, is the MP for Walewale in the North East Region; she also lost in the primaries.

Deputy Ministries who were fired:

The seven deputy ministers Akufo-Addo sacked also lost their re-election bid after losing in the party's primaries.

The two Deputy Ministers of Health, Tina Naa Ayeley Mensah, MP for Weija-Gbawe in the Greater Accra Region, and Mahama Asei Seini, MP for Daboya-Mankarigu in the Savannah Region, all lost in their primaries.

The Deputy Minister of Education and MP for Abuakwa North in the Eastern Region, Gifty Twum-Ampofo, also lost in the NPP parliamentary primaries.

The Deputy Minister of Communications and Digitalisation and MP for Juaben in Ashanti, Ama Pomaa Boateng, also lost in the primaries and was fired by Akufo-Addo.

Collins Ntim, a Deputy Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development and MP for Offinso North, was also fired.

The Deputy Minister of Labour Relations and MP for Lower Hemang Denkyira in the Central Region, Bright Wireko-Brobbey, was also fired.

The last casualty was the Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development and MP for Trobu, Moses Anim.

Regional Minister:

The only regional minister fired, Joseph Makubu, the Oti Regional Minister, also lost in the party's Nkwanta South parliamentary primaries.

BAI/SEA

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