Political Science Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Prof Ransford Gyampo says that the recent government reshuffling was not only about competence but also had partisan motivations.
Prof Gyampo expressed concern that the recent reshuffling was not carried out in a way that met the standards of transparency and fairness that are expected in a democratic society.
Speaking on the AM show on Joy TV, he explained that the criteria for the reshuffling are based on factors such as competence and expertise.
“First of all, you do reshuffling because, it introduces new skills, talents, competence, and fresh ideas to governance machinery. Secondly, reshuffling is a way of repositioning people to areas where their talents and expertise will be better needed.”
Professor Gyampo explained that reshuffling can serve as a means of holding government officials accountable, as the threat of demotion can motivate them to work harder and deliver results.
According to him, reshuffling is an opportunity to replace underperforming officials with more qualified and capable individuals.
“They may be used as a mechanism to downsize government or bring into board more hands to help. They are a mechanism for promoting inclusivity in governance and nation building.”
Professor Gyampo stated that reshuffling must be undertaken periodically in developing democracy.
However, he noted that frequent reshuffles can have negative effects, such as the loss of institutional knowledge and experience in carrying out the task of governance.
“But also refusing to reshuffle or delaying for a long time for the calls of reshuffling as our current president has done is also dangerous as it perpetuate incompetence, promotes complacency and denies a developing country like Ghana of access to its limited resource base that must be tapped for national development.”
“The periodization of reshuffling is more important than its frequency. This explains why successive government in the fourth republic of Ghana periodically reshuffles. The only government that appears to have no appreciation of the idea of reshuffling, as far as I am concerned , it’s the current one headed by President Akufo- Addo,” he said.
Background
After months of calls from the general public, President Akufo-Addo has made changes to his government.
This comes a month after former Trade Minister, Alan Kyerematen and Agriculture Minister Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto resigned to focus on their respective political campaigns.
As required by the 1992 Constitution, the President wrote to the Speaker of Parliament, informing him of the new changes in government on Tuesday, February 7.
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