Bad governance is equal to assembling all your valuable assets close to an open fire and placing a barrel of petrol around it. This is exactly how Deputy Minority Leader in Parliament, Dominic Nitiwul, feels about the way the National Democratic Congress is handling governance.
In an interview with Peace FM during the station’s News@6pm, the MP for Bimbilla stated he believes the current administration has been unserious when it comes to tackling sensitive issues.
He defined governance as a serious business which should be handled as such and maintains that as a nation, we were retrogressing under the Mahama led administration.
He predicted that considering how the president is going about his on-going reshuffle, the nation would be rendered unproductive for several months. His explanations to the above situation were that instead of giving the newly assigned ministers the room to operate smoothly, President Mahama would be forcing them to spend unrestorable months looking for missing documents and other supporting materials that would help them settle in better.
As part of the ongoing ministerial reshuffle that begun last week, President John Mahama over the weekend appointed Kweku Rickets Hagan as a Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry.
Also Benita Sena Okity-Duah, who was a Deputy Minister for Gender, Children & Social Protection has been asked to go to the Ministry for Fisheries and Aquaculture as a Deputy Minister.
Mr. Acquinas Quansah, Deputy Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture is now the new Central Regional Minister.
In accordance with Article 79(1) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the president also nominated the following as Deputy Ministers of State. They include Mrs. Mona Quartey Ministry of Finance; Mrs. Dela Sowah, Ministry of Gender, Children & Social Protection; and Dr. Victor Asare Bampoe, Ministry of Health.
In other appointments, former chief of staff under the Mills administration, Alex Segbefia is now Deputy Minister for Defense.
Deputy Minister for Employment and Labor Relations, Antwi Boasiako-Sekyere has also been nominated as Eastern Regional Minister.
And the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Yaw Effah Baafi is now Deputy Minister for Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs.
Other Deputy Ministers were also re-assigned as part of the on-going changes in government.
John Alexander Ackon, Deputy Minister for Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs is now Deputy Minister for the Ashanti Region.
Dr. Alfred Tia Sugri was moved from the Health Ministry to the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology & Innovation as a Deputy Minister.
Ebenezer Okletey Tei Larbi was also moved from the Ministry of Defence to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources as a Deputy Minister.
Dr. Musheibu Mohammed-Alfa of the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology& Innovation was also reassigned as Deputy Minister for the Upper West Region.
But the Deputy Minority Leader opines the president should have first made changes to the substantive ministers and not the deputies, stressing that since the deputy ministers are only appointed to assist substantive ministers, a reshuffle that targets deputy ministers may achieve little results.
Hon Nitiwul wondered if governance to the NDC means making changes just like an amateur coach would do in a football match.