These are the ‘jobless’ people who have called on Akufo-Addo to reshuffle his ministers

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is not known to be someone who often responds to a lot of public talks, but there have been times that when he does, it punches a lot of holes in the impression created about him as being a listening president.

And while there is no law or rule anywhere in the books of Ghana for presidents to, as a matter of necessity, reshuffle their appointees, the tradition has been as old as Ghana’s democracy.

That being said, since he took office in 2017, reshuffling under President Akufo-Addo’s government has rather become a scarce happening. So much so that, the only time he has done anything as major in that respect was in 2021, at the dawn of his second term in office.

Increasingly, and for many public-interest reasons, a number of Ghanaians have had cause to ask the president to reshuffle his ministers.

And in the hope of most of these people, this should help improve the country’s economy.

But President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo feels the calls are ill-motivated.

Speaking recently, he said such may persons have ulterior motives for calling for a reshuffle of government appointees under his administration.

He also suggested that some of these people may be ‘jobless’ persons.

“The calls come for all kinds of reasons; NDC wanting to destabilise the government is one. There are people who are also looking for jobs,” he said while speaking in a North Star Radio interview.

President Akufo-Addo also added that his ministers had performed well; therefore, he had no reason to reshuffle them.

“Many of them, for me, have done outstanding work. Their output has been considerable, and that is what I look at. If the output measures expectations, then I don’t have any strong reasons to heed the call,” the president said.

But who are the people who have been calling for the president to reshuffle his ministers? The people he describes as ‘jobless’.

There are quite a number of names, interestingly, these persons all are employed and are high-ranking members of society.

Here are a few notable Ghanaians who have asked for the president to reshuffle, and brief profiles about them:

Kofi Bentil:

Kofi Bentil is the Senior Vice President at Imani Africa, one of Ghana’s leading think tanks.

Kofi Bentil is a practising Lawyer and Managing Partner at Lex Praxis Incorporated. He is also a Business Strategy Lecturer and Consultant. He lectured at Ashesi University and the University of Ghana Business School (Executive MBA). He also holds many corporate training sessions each year in Business Strategy and Services Marketing and Management Skills.

Kofi is active in Ghanaian Civil Society. He is Senior Vice President and Policy Analyst with Imani Ghana, voted among the top Think Tanks in Africa and in Ghana. Kofi handles several areas, including Energy Policy, Education, and infrastructure.

He founded OccupyGhana and is a founding member of Citizen Ghana Movement, both vibrant Civil Society Organisations in Ghana. He has been involved in many public interest court cases with significant impact on issues like the Right to Information, amongst others.

Dr. Nana Ayew Afriye:

Dr, Nana Ayew Afriyie is the Member of Parliament for Effiduase Asokore on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

According to details on the official website of the Parliament of Ghana, Dr. Afriye is a doctor by profession and was once the Head of Institutional Public Health at the Ridge Hospital.

He is also the Chief Executive Officer of the St. John’s Hospital and Fertility Center.

Dr. Richard Amoako Baah:

Dr. Richard Amoako Baah is a former political science lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

As a political activist, he had, on several occasions, been on stage campaigning with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.

He contributed money for the NPP 2000 and 2016 campaign activities and organised fundraising for the party at the Kumasi Sports Stadium in 2016.

According to Dr Baah, he liaised with the acting Chairman in building relations with the National Democratic Party (NDP) and the Progressive People’s Party (PPP).

He also one time vied for the national chairman position of the NPP.

He was a member of the NPP Manifesto committee in 2016, the NPP Ashanti Regional Campaign Committee and has had meetings with NPP national and Ashanti regional executives.

Franklin Cudjoe:

Franklin Cudjoe is the Founding President and Chief Executive Officer of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, a think tank of global repute dedicated to promoting the institutions of a free society across Africa. IMANI has been consistently ranked among the top 5 most influential think tanks in sub-Saharan Africa and among the top 100 worldwide.

In 2010 Franklin was consulted by the UK Prime Minister’s office on how to make effective use of British aid in Africa. Franklin has hosted and shared panels with former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Swiss President Doris Leuthard, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and debated former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa when he was president in 2005.

In 2010, Franklin was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He was named a fellow of the Africa Leadership Network in 2012 and the only named Think Tank Leader in the “Top 50 Africans” List of the respected Africa Report Magazine in 2012.

Ransford Gyampo:

Prof Ransford Gyampo is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Centre for European Studies of the University of Ghana, with over 14 years of teaching and research experience.

Prof. Gyampo holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Ghana and at Tufts University in Boston, USA. His research interest lies in the areas of Youth Empowerment and Development, Governance, Democracy, and Natural Resource Management.

Until recently, he was a visiting scholar at the Department of Government and International Relations at the University of South Florida, United States of America (USA). He currently serves as a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom.

Haruna Iddrisu:

Haruna Iddrisu is the Minority Leader in Parliament.

He attended the University of Ghana between 1993 and 1997, where he obtained a B.A Hons in Sociology. He was active in student politics and was the president of the National Union of Ghana Students during his final year. Iddrisu is also a barrister and has been a member of the Ghana Bar Association since 2002.

Kweku Baako Jnr:

Kweku Baako Jnr is a veteran Ghanaian journalist. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper as well as a panellist on radio shows in Ghana.

In 1999 he was awarded the Journalist of the Year by the Ghana Journalists Association. He was polled as the 39th most influential Ghanaian in 2014 by ETV.

Kwame Jantuah:

Kwame Jantuah is a lawyer and a social commentator.

He is also the CEO of the African Energy Consortium Limited.

Henry Osei Akoto:

Henry Osei Akoto was the 2020 NDC Parliamentary Candidate for Oforikrom Constituency.

He is currently a National Organiser hopeful for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Dr. Kofi Amoah:

Dr. Kofi Amoah has also called for the president to make changes in his appointments.

Dr. Amoah is a renowned Ghanaian economist, businessman, the CEO of Progeny Ventures International, and the owner of Global Access Savings and Loans Limited.

He is credited with bringing Western Union to Africa, and for every amount transferred to Africa via Western Union, Dr. Amoah gets a certain cut.