Third Set of ministers ‘outdoored’. Number now 36

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has released his third and final list of 11 ministerial nominees, with a plea to Parliament to fast-track their vetting and approval to enable his government to start work.

He is now left with the appointment of regional ministers, which will be done after Parliament resumes on January 24, 2017.

The number of ministerial nominees comes to 36 after the President had announced the first batch of 13 last Tuesday and then another batch of 12 last Wednesday.

The final batch of nominees include Professor George Gyan-Baffour, Minister at the Presidency in charge of Planning; Ms Catherine Ablema Afeku, Tourism, Arts and Culture; Mr Mustapha Abdul Hamid, Information; Hawa Koomson, Special Development Initiatives, and Mr Isaac Kwame Asiamah, Youth and Sports.

The others are Ms Naa Afoley Quaye, Fisheries and Aquaculture; Mr Samuel Kofi Dzamesi, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, and Mrs Cecilia Dapaah, Aviation.

The rest are Alhaji Boniface Saddique, Inner City and Zongo Development; Mohammed Ibrahim Awal, Business Development, and Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Parliamentary Affairs.

About the six new portfolios

Throwing light on the appointments, the President said the six newly created portfolios would work hand in hand and directly with the Presidency towards the attainment of some key policies and programmes of the government.

Those ministries are Monitoring and Evaluation, Regional Re-organisation and Development, Railways Development, Special Development Initiatives, Inner City and Zongo Development and Business Development.

Making an appeal to Parliament to fast-track their vetting and approval processes, President Akufo-Addo said the nominees were men and women of substance who were well-known in public life and he, therefore, expected that their vetting would not experience any hiccups.

He was optimistic that with the approval of his team of ministers and the eventual take-off of his administration, strenuous efforts would be made by his government to alleviate the plight of Ghanaians.

About the nominees

PROF. GYAN-BAFFOUR, MINISTER FOR PLANNING

Prof. Gyan-Baffour is 65 years and currently the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wenchi.

From July 2002 to December 2004, he was the Director General of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) of Ghana where he oversaw the preparation of the first Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (2003-2005) Paper.

He introduced the first monitoring and evaluation mechanism for assessing the progress of national development called the Annual Progress Report, which is still the monitoring and evaluation tool of the national development agenda of Ghana.

He also supervised the preparation of the Coordinated Programme for the Economic and Social Development of Ghana (2002-2012), which is a constitutional requirement of the President.

He led the team that prepared the first compact of the Millennium Challenge Account.

Before he left for the USA for academic pursuit, he worked at the Ministry of Industries, Science and Technology from 1974 to 1984 and rose to the rank of Senior Industrial Promotions Officer.

In December 2004, he contested and won the parliamentary election to become the MP for Wenchi. He later became the Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning from March 2005 to December 2008.

He holds a PhD from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in Industrial Relations; a post-doctorate diploma from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government; an MA in Economic Policy from the University of Wisconsin, Madison; a BSc. (Hons) in Economics from the University of Ghana.

Prof. Yaw Gyan-Baffour, Minister designate for Planning.

CATHERINE AFEKU -TOURISM, ARTS & CULTURE

Ms Afeku is 49 years and MP for Evalue-Gwira. She hails from Axim and holds Bachelor of Science and a master’s degree in Business Administration. She has worked with the World Bank, Stico Petroleum in Kenya as a business development consultant and as a bilingual instructor at the Inlingua School of Languages, Brescia, Italy.

Between 2006 and 2008, she was the NPP government’s spokesperson on infrastructure.

She is married with three children.

Ms MAVIS HAWA KOOMSON, SPECIAL DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES

 Hawa Koomson is 51 years and holds a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Education, a postgraduate certificate in Public Administration from GIMPA and is due to obtain a master’s degree in Public Administration, with  specialisation in International Relations and Diplomacy after completion of the programme in January 2017.

She has been the MP for the Awutu Senya East Constituency from 2012 to date. While in Parliament, she has served as a member of the committees on Land and Natural Resources and Women and Gender.

She is married with three children.

IBRAHIM AWAL MOHAMMED, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Mr Awal Mohammed is a 55-year-old entrepreneur and marketer. Awal, who was adjudged the Marketing Man of the Year, 2009, holds three master’s degrees in various disciplines from different universities.

He has a master’s degree in Applied Business Research from the Swiss Business School, Switzerland; Executive Masters in Business Administration from the University of Ghana Business School, Legon, and a masters in International Journalism from the University of Wales, UK.

He is also at the tail end of his doctoral programme at the Swiss Business School, pursuing a PhD in Business Administration.

 Awal is a former Managing Director of the Graphic Communications Group Limited and Chase Petroleum and currently the Chief Executive Officer of Marble Communications Group Limited, publishers of The Finder group of newspapers, HMW Printers, Marble Consultants and Marble Developers.

He has worked closely with many companies, particularly small and medium enterprises, to whom he has offered consultancy services in the areas of business strategy, management, marketing and communications. He has also consulted for diplomatic missions, international development partners, as well as state institutions.

He is married with four children and is also a product of the Ghana Institute of Journalism.

Mr Ibrahim Awal, Minister designate for Business Development. 

MUSTAPHA ABDUL-HAMID, INFORMATION

Mustapha Abdul-Hamid is 45 years old and holds a Diploma in Education, Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies and a master of Philosophy degree, also in Religious Studies, all from the University of Cape Coast.

He is presently a Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Cape Coast, where he specialises in the areas of Islam & Gender and Political Thought in Islam. Prior to taking up teaching, he worked in the media in various capacities as Editor of the High Street Journal, Editor of the Statesman newspaper, News Editor at the then Choice FM and Strategy Planning Manager at Media Majique & Research Systems.

He has published widely in many prestigious academic journals around the world.

In politics, he was the National Youth Organiser of the NPP from 2002-2005. He has been the Spokesperson for the President from 2007 to date.

He is married with five children.

MR ISAAC KWAME ASIAMAH, YOUTH & SPORTS

Isaac Kwame Asiamah is 42 years old. He is a graduate of the University of Ghana, Legon, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography and Resource Development with Political Science.

He holds an Executive Masters in Governance and Leadership. He entered Parliament in January 2005 at age 29, then the youngest MP, on the ticket of the NPP for the Atwima Mponua Constituency in the Ashanti Region and is still the MP.

He was a member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Youth, Sports and Culture, rising to become the Vice-Chairman of the committee and later became the Chairman of that committee in his first term in Parliament.

He has also served on the following committees in Parliament: Public Accounts, Finance, Poverty Reduction and Mines and Energy.

He is married with four children.

MR KOFI DZAMESI, CHIEFTAINCY & RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS

Samuel Kofi Ahiave Dzamesi is 57 years old. He has a first degree in Engineering and holds a diploma in Marketing. He is a former Minister of the Volta Region under the government of President Kufuor and is a National Council member of the NPP.

 He was the Chairperson of the NPP Campaign Sector Committee on Chieftaincy.

Mr Kofi Dzamesi, Minister designate for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs.

MS CECILIA DAPAAH, AVIATION

Cecilia Abena Dapaah is 62 years old and a leadership development specialist. She is a product of the University of Ghana, Legon, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Linguistics in 1979. She also holds a certificate from the Harvard Kennedy School of Leadership and a postgraduate certificate in International Development Studies from the University of Oslo in Norway.

Between 2001 and 2006, she was the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Ghana Cocoa Processing Company. She was a Deputy Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing under President Kufuor from 2005 to 2006 and became the substantive Minister from 2007 to 2008.

While in Parliament as MP for Bantama, she served on various committees, such as Works and Housing, Advisory Committee to the Speaker, Employment, Social Welfare and Youth, Foreign Affairs and Special Budget.

BONIFACE ABUBAKAR SADDIQUE, INNER CITY & ZONGO DEVELOPMENT

Boniface Abubakar Saddique is 56 years old. He holds an MA in Economics from the University of Essex, an MBA in Financial Management from the University of Exeter, an MA in Conflict, Peace and Security from the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Centre and a BA in Social Sciences from the KNUST.

He worked at the Ministry of Finance for 14 years as an Economic Officer, eventually becoming a Senior Finance Officer.

In politics, he was a two-time MP for Salaga from 2001-2009. He also served as Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Minister for Manpower, Youth and Employment and Northern Regional Minister.

He is married with three children.

NAA AFOLEY QUAYE, FISHERIES & AQUACULTURE

Elizabeth Naa Afoley Quaye is 47 years old and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agribusiness from the Central University College. She also obtained a National Diploma in General Agriculture from the University of Ghana and a certificate in General Agriculture from the Kwadaso Agricultural College.

For over 20 years, she worked as the Principal Production Officer at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

She is currently the MP for Krowor.  She is married with four children.

Ms Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, Minister designate for Fisheries

OSEI KYEI-MENSAH-BONSU, PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS

Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu is 59 years old and an urban planner by profession. He has been the MP for Suame since 1997 and has held several positions in the House, including Secretary to the Minority Caucus (1997-2000); Deputy Majority Chief Whip (2001-2002); Majority Chief Whip (2002-2007); Deputy Majority Leader (2007-2008) and Minister of State (Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs) from 2007 to 2008.

He has chaired the Advisory Board on Water Restructuring at the Ministry of Works and Housing and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Cocoa Processing Company for eight years.

He is currently the Chairman of the African Parliamentarians Network against Corruption and Vice-President of the Global Organisation of Parliamentarians against Corruption.

He has also served on various committees in Parliament, namely, Business Committee, Committee on Selection, Committee on Works and Housing, Committee on Youth and Sports, Committee on Lands and Forestry, Committee on Subsidiary Legislation, Special Budget Committee, Appointments Committee and the Standing Orders Committee.