[ad_1]
James Zuugah Tiigah & Aquinas Tawiah
At least three regional ministers are on their way out of John Mahama’s administration, as the presidency is set to release the list of ministers to be affected by a reshuffle.
Presidency sources told DAILY GUIDE that Upper East Regional Minister, Zuugah Tiigah and his counterpart in the Central Region, Aquinas Tawiah Quansah and possibly the Ashanti Regional Minister, Peter Anarfi Mensah, as well as the Eastern Regional Minster will kiss good bye to the administration, as the list of the new ministers will be released by latest Wednesday.
A major beneficiary of the reshuffle may be Baba Jamal, current deputy minister of Employment and Labour Relations, who may be elevated to the position of Eastern Regional minster to make sure that the NDC’s 50-50 agenda in the region is sustained.
Jamal himself has some issues with members of his National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Akwatia constituency.
The former Eastern Regional secretary of the party, Anthony Gyamapoh, is also in the race to unseat the current regional minister, Antwi Boasiako Sekyere, who the party people want replaced.
Zuugah Tiigah, a former diplomat who was plucked from Ghana Mission in the US, is having difficulty in making an impact in the Upper East Region.
The people say they can only remember him with decoration with Christmas trees he spent money on in Bolgatanga for the Christmas festivity.
Dr Clement Apaak, a presidential staffer, was tipped to replace Zuugah, but unconfirmed report as at press time said he might go to the transport ministry to replace Dzifa Attivor, while some Ga chiefs are said to be lobbying for Tetteh Chai, outgoing MP for Ablekuma Central, for the same position.
As at last night sources said the outgoing ministers were being called to be informed of the possible changes in order to give a human face to the reshuffle exercise.
Two ministers – Dr Kwabena Donkor, Power Minister and Dzifa Aku Attivor, for Transport – are already out, in the face of ministerial indiscretion and scandal.
Some ministers will also swap positions in typical musical chair fashion, while a number of them will join Dr Donkor and Dzifa Attivor as ex-ministers to watch things from afar.
Likely to be affected in the reshuffle is Nii Osah Mills, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, who joined the government barely a year ago.
A former Ghana Bar Association president, Lawyer Osah Mills is said to be encouraging Ga land owners to file for compensation against the state for taking over their lands to the displeasure of President Mahama.
The Sports Minister, Dr Mustapha Ahmed, may also go home, having lost the slot to represent the people of Ayawaso North in next year’s election. He was defeated in the NDC primary held in November 21, 2015.
Dr Ahmed incurred the displeasure of the President through his handling of the Black Queens’ victory bonus after participating in the All African Games in Congo Brazzaville.
The Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, may also be affected in the reshuffle after plunging the country into huge debt owing to the poor management of the economy.
His so-called smart borrowing has led Ghana to borrow money to pay for interest on loans in a manner economists describe as ‘bottomless pit’ approach of borrowing.
Seth Terkper is leading the NDC administration to go for a third Eurobond of $1 billion in less than a year – pushing the country’s debt profile to over GH¢100 billion and more than 70 percent of Ghana’s GDP.
Mr Terkper’s prescriptions to salvage the economy include the signing up to the IMF package with all its harsh conditionalities.
Even within NDC circles, Terkper is number one enemy for making the government unpopular with killer economic policies that thrive mainly on imposition of taxes, including the recent taxes on petroleum products at the time global fuel prices are dropping with lightening speed.
Some groups, including the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC), are bracing up for full-scale demonstrations against the government’s insensitive to the plight of the people.
The reshuffle was to take place before the Christmas but upon a second thought the president decided to allow the exiting ministers to have a good Christmas with their families.
The management of the economy has been the major headache of the Mahama administration, defying all prescriptions, including the Senchi Consensus, which was the brainchild of Vice President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, an economist and former Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
A DAILY GUIDE Report
[ad_2]