Some four (4) Ministers of State, seven (7) deputy Ministers and a tall list of Chief Executives (CEOs) of Government agencies would be better off if they start backing out of their offices ahead of what has been described as their sack letters being prepared to be delivered to them in the next weeks if not days.
The eleventh-hour mini reshuffle is expected to be announced anytime soon by the Presidency, barring any last-minute changes, or the Old Boy caving in to the pressures of heavy lobbying against the looming political ‘Tsumani’.
The information gathered from Jubilee inside sources that the affected appointees are mostly those who contested in the just-ended parliamentary primaries of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) but lost in their respective bids.
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Some of them performed miserably at the primaries and it has been interpreted as a vote of no confidence in them by their very constituents and persons closes to the at the grassroots base of the party.
Just as there was a directive from the Party that District, Municipal and Metropolitan Chief Executives who intended to contest in the said primaries to step aside ahead of the polls, same yard stick has been extended though belatedly to Chief Executives of government institutions who partook in the elections.
“It a tough thing but the Chief Executives, will be relieved of their duties in the coming days once the primaries are over and a winner decided”, our insider sources revealed and said that decision was taken at the threshold of the primaries.
Our inside sources indicate that the reshuffle is aimed at strengthening the base of the Party ahead of the 2024 polls as the affected persons are said to be unpopular among the party’s grassroots and could sabotage its electoral gains.
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Though details of when exactly President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will announce the changes remain unknown, it is expected that it will be done in the coming weeks.
Speculations of a major ministerial reshuffle has been bundled around for the last two years but nothing major in that regard has happened and no clear explanation has been given.
President Akufo-Addo had once explained that so far as an appointee of his was performing well in office, he does not see the need for the person to be replaced and true to his words; the President seems to have an allergy for ministerial reshuffles. Unlike past Presidents, He seldom sacks his men.
The President suggested further that in many instances the persons calling for the reshuffle may have their own personal interests which may not be in tandem with the larger interest of the party and government.
He was of the view such calls should be subjected to a meticulous analysis of the merits or otherwise before they are taken into consideration.
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“The decision was concluded even before the communication of the change of the DCEs and MCEs but something seem to be delaying that announcement”, our sources added.
It would be recalled that 7 deputy Ministers and 3 Ministers lost their bids to be elected as the party’s parliamentary candidates for the 2024 general elections.
They were all defeated during the Party’s parliamentary primaries held last Saturday January 27.
At the Tano North Constituency in the Ahafo Region, the MP for the area, Freda Prempeh who doubles as the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources lost the elections to Dr. Gideon Boako, campaign spokesperson for Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
Another casualty Minister is the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection and MP for Walewale in the North East Region, Hajia Lariba Zuweira Abudu who lost the primaries to Dr Kabiru Mahama, the Technical Adviser at the Office of the Vice-President.
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The third Minister to get kicked out of the race is the Minister of Public Enterprises and Member of Parliament (MP) for Effia in the Western Region, Joseph Cudjoe who lost the bid to Yaw Nyarko Boamah Esq. a renowned private legal practitioner and taxation expert.
Deputy Minister of Labour Relations and MP for Lower Hemang Denkyira in the Central Region, Bright Wireko-Brobbey was defeated by the Chief Executive of Export and Import Bank, Ghana, Lawrence Agyinsam,
The two deputy Ministers at the Ministry of Health lost their parliamentary primaries.
Deputy Health Minister, Tina Naa Ayeley Mensah, MP for Weija GBawe in the Greater Accra Region lost her primaries to Lawyer Jery Ahmed Shaibu the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Coastal Development Authority.
The other deputy Health Minister, Mahama Asei Seini, MP for Daboya Mankarigu Constituency in the North Gonja District in the Savannah Region lost his bid to Samuel Tika, a former deputy Minister for the same Region.
Deputy Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development and MP for Offinso North in the Ashanti Region, Collins Ntim was knocked out by Fred Kyei Asamoah. Deputy Minister of Communications and Digitalisation and MP for Juaben in Ashanti, Ama Pomaa Boateng lost her bid to Frank Owusu Achiaw.
Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Acquaculture Development and MP for Trobu, Moses Anim lost his bid to Madam Gloria Owusu. Deputy Minister of Education and MP for Abuakwa North in the Eastern Region, Gifty Twum-Ampofo who lost her bid to Nana Ampaw Addo-Frempong, popularly known as Buffalo.
