President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has released a list of 19 Cabinet Ministers to assist him in the determination of the general policy of Government in accordance with Article 76 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.
Conspicuously missing on the list however, are some portfolios generally considered important to the state. They include the National Security and Communication. Some have said that the absence of the National security minister Albert Kan Dapaah on the list in the midst of recent concerns of insecurity in the sub-region is a cause for worry while the absence of the Communication Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful in the midst of the government’s digitization drive agenda does not show commitment.
It has even been suggested that, matters of youth unemployment, food security and housing are potential sources of insurrections which equally border on national security. The concern therefore is that, the failure of the National Security Minister to make the cut for Cabinet Ministers could be an expensive gamble for the Government.
Mention has also been made of other Ministerial portfolios such as Information; Communication; Environment, Science and Innovation; and Roads and Highways among others who failed to make the list.
Reading a communication from the President on the Floor of Parliament on Thursday, June 10, 2021, the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Bagbin, said the full list of the Cabinet Ministers as prescribed by the Constitution has been duly satisfied by the President.
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According to Article 76 (1) of the Constitution, “There shall be a Cabinet which shall consist of the President, the Vice- President and not less than ten and not more than nineteen Ministers of State.”
Out of the 19 Ministers of State of the Cabinet, 12 of them are sitting Members of Parliament which satisfies the constitutional injunction which requires that not less than 50 percent of them should come from Parliament.
The list includes: Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta; Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen; Minister for Defence, Dominic Nitiwul; Minister for the Interior, Ambrose Dery; Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey; Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame; Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto; Minister for Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh; Minister for Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum; and Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu.
The rest of the names on the list are: Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu; Minister for Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development, Daniel Botwe; Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor; Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah; Minister for Railway Development, John Peter Amewu; Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour Awuah; Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mavis Hawa Koomson; Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Alhaji Ibrahim Awal Mohammed; and Minister for Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye.
Source: Clement Aakoloh || parliamentnews360.com