5 More Ministerial Assistants

Cassiel Ato Forson

President John Dramani Mahama yesterday released the names of five more persons for Deputy Ministerial appointments.

The list includes the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam, Cassiel Ato Forson, who has been nominated as Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, and Thomas Kwesi Quartey, Ghana’s former Ambassador to Ethiopia, who will partner Hannah Tetteh at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration as her Deputy.

A statement from the presidency at Flagstaff and signed by Executive Secretary to the President, Dr Raymond Atuguba also named Nkoranza South MP, Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum as Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development.
The rest are the MP for Hohoe North, Dr. Bernice Adiku Heloo and Joyce Bawa-Mogtar, a former head of Legal Services at the Ghana Shippers Authority, as Deputy Ministers for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation and Transport respectively.

Joyce Bawa-Mogtar goes to partner Dzifa Ativor, thereby raising question marks as to why the President would pair two women in one Ministry, as happened in the Eastern Region.

This brings to nine the list of individuals appointed as Deputy Ministers in the Mahama-Amissah Arthur administration, apart from the deputy regional ministers.

The piece-meal approach adopted by President Mahama in the nomination of his Ministers, Deputies and virtually all heads of government departments and agencies has kept many including his own party members wondering what is up his sleeves.

Just last week, the President nominated Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, Dominic Ayine and Barbara Serwaa Asamoah for Deputy Ministerial positions.

Ablakwa, who was a deputy Minister of Information in the previous NDC administration, was nominated to partner Education Minister Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang as her Deputy, whilst his colleague member of the NDC communications team Felix Kwakye Ofosu was nominated as Deputy Minister of Information to partner Mahama Ayariga at the Information Ministry.

Known NDC lawyer, Dominic Ayine was nominated as Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice while former Spokesman for the Get Atta Mills Elected (GAME), a campaign machinery of the late President Atta Mills, Barbara Serwaa Asamoah, was nominated as Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources to partner Inusa Fusseini.