The Member of Parliament for Odododiodoo, Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye, has asserted that President Akufo-Addo’s recent ministerial reshuffle is driven by political considerations rather than the need for effective governance.
Vanderpuye’s comments come in the wake of President Akufo-Addo’s reshuffle on February 14, 2024. According to him, the adjustments were prompted by the President’s awareness of challenges in some constituencies and the perceived incompetence of some Members of Parliament.
He highlighted that the inclusion of new faces in the reshuffle is a strategic move to replace MPs who lost in the Parliamentary Primaries and have subsequently faded from the public eye.
The newly appointed individuals, he contends, will leverage their limited influence to address their public personas and secure their positions in their respective constituencies.
Vanderpuye specifically pointed to the removal of the former Sanitation Minister, Freda Prempeh, who was appointed a few months ago, attributing her removal to her defeat in the Parliamentary Primaries.
During an interview on the Big Issue on Citi TV with Selorm Adonoo on February 17, 2024, Vanderpuye expressed scepticism about the new appointees’ ability to enhance the administration, suggesting that their lack of experience and background in their ministries could potentially worsen the situation.
“Some of us who are political strategists have known that these changes were not made for the functioning of government but for political reasons. Strategic political reasons. Let me be frank with you, the president is privy to National security reports, and he knows that a lot of his constituencies are not doing well, the constituencies of his people and some of these people have lost elections and as such, why should he keep those people there, their influence is gone in the constituency so why doesn’t he bring in new people who may have a little bit of influence that could solve their personalities and positions in their constituencies.
“Let me take for example, the president recently appointed Freda Prempeh to the Ministry, a few months ago, why would he change her? The only reason why he is changing her is because Freda has lost her Parliamentary position.”
Source: citinewsroom.com
