Sack, reshuffle non-performing ministers to avoid a Sri Lanka situation – Adam Bonaa to Akufo-Addo

A security analyst, Dr Adam Bonaa, has warned of a possible uprising if President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo fails to, with immediate effect, sack non-performing ministers and reshuffle his cabinet.

He also wants the president to cut down on the size of the government while taking urgent steps to address the ongoing economic protests by organized labour.

According to Dr Bonaa, the country is likely to face the Sri Lanka kind of situation where hundreds of angry youth besieged the Presidential Palace over the mismanagement of the economy should this advice not be heeded.

The angry protestors blamed the president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, for an unprecedented economic meltdown that has been catastrophic for the nation’s 22 million people.

Speaking to Kumasi-based Oyerepa TV and monitored by GhanaWeb, Dr Adam Bonaa argued that a reshuffle, plus the dismissal of some non-performing ministers, will force citizens to give the new entrants some time to ascertain what they will bring on board.

“Yes, it can happen in Ghana but what the president can do is to sack all non-performing ministers and pave way for some who can do the job. He must also cut down the size of government because some of the ministers are not doing anything.

“Most of them (Ministers) are not working but they receive fuel allowances, provision of state security (Police) and also receive ex gratia at the end of their term. He must also reshuffle some of the ministers. The president must also act quickly in dealing with the labour agitation while reducing fuel prices,” he admonished.

He also added that the “move will give the people hope and ensure the stability. Because where the people live in a state of hopelessness as it happened in Sri Lanka where there was no hope, people begin to challenge those who are not giving them hope.”

Dr Bonaa, however, observed that the president has demonstrated little capacity in dismissing some of his appointees, citing the absentee Member of Parliament for Dome Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo, as an example.

In the view of Adam Bonaa, some of the labour agitations stem from President Akufo-Addo’s inability to sack the MP, who is also the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, being aware too that she is still being paid for no work done.

“I don’t believe the president has demonstrated that he will reshuffle his ministers because a president who cannot sack Sarah Adwoa Safo cannot sack anybody; a president who cannot sack the agric minister cannot sack anybody. Adwoa Safo has been appointed to occupy a very sensitive position but has been away for almost a year whilst drawing her salaries. I will only have confidence in the president when he begins to sack people like Adwoa Safo. Some of these things are annoying everybody including organized labour.

“He will be the one we will hold responsible if this country goes into the drain,” he said.