Former Minister for Works and Housing and Member of Parliament (MP) for Ofoase-Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has stated that the Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye-Ofosu, is undertaking one of the most difficult tasks in governance as a government spokesperson.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah, who also served as Information Minister under the NPP administration, argued that communicating on matters of governance is no easy feat.
He expressed his best wishes for Kwakye-Ofosu in his role.
“Felix is doing a very difficult job, I wish him well. He is doing his best, and time will tell whether he is doing well or not. I told you I did my best when I was Information Minister. Time will tell when I am no longer there. You have appointed five or six other information ministers, and then you will be able to tell whether I did a good job or not. So, he is doing his best,” Oppong Nkrumah said during JoyPrime’s Prime Morning Show on Wednesday, April 9.
He emphasised, “I can only wish him well. It is a very difficult job, it’s brutal.”
The MP then suggested that the role of Communications Minister is ideally suited for senior technocrats who are closely connected to the President, as it requires careful attention and a strategic approach to communicating with the public in order to position the government effectively.
He explained, “My experience is that, for that job, you need a senior adviser to the President responsible for putting communications together. Let me explain – if you make the top person in communications a Minister, when other ministers create communication challenges, you can’t call them to order, you can’t even report them to the President for action to be taken. They will come at you.”
“You need somebody higher, someone who sits at the table with the President, who can discipline ministers for creating communication problems,” he added.