By Edzorna Francis Mensah
The Minority in Parliament has said “Akufo-Addo’s injury time reshuffle will not fix the Seven (7) Year challenges created by his government” in reaction to the government’s Ministerial reshuffle announced in a statement from the President to Parliament on February 14, 2024.
They described the Ministerial reshuffle as a mere remix of Akufo-Addo and Alhaji Bawumia’s failed government and said that “this injury time remix is insipid and uninspiring. It is also too little too late, coming barely nine (9) months to the exit of the government”.
“Neither will it solve the suffering and hardships confronting the people of Ghana as a result of the bad governance and massive uncontrolled corruption of Akufo-Addo and Alhaji Bawumia’s government.”
The Minority, in a statement dated February 14, 2024, and signed by Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Leader, said that these injury time reserves, who have been on the bench for more than seven years without warm-up, cannot make any meaningful impact in the remaining nine (9) months to salvage the sinking ship and the massive economic mess created by Alhaji Bawumia and his economic mismanagement team.
According to the statement, “the tenure of this government has been characterised by excessive borrowing, unsustainable debt, an economic crisis, high appetite for taxes, poor governance, reckless and wasteful expenditures, siphoning of state resources into private pockets of government appointees, as well as state capture by family and friends of the President and his Vice.”
He further submitted, “President Akufo-Addo has at all material times remained obstinate and defiant when the subject of reshuffle came up for discussion. For example, he rebuffed nearly 100 NPP Members of Parliament who demanded the immediate resignation of outgoing Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.”
He again mentioned that President Akufo-Addo also did not heed calls from the vast majority of Ghanaians who publicly urged him to reshuffle his government as a result of the non-performance of his Cabinet.
The NDC Minority, however, believes that the best way to end the suffering and hardships of Ghanaians would have been for both President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Alhaji Bawumia to resign.