Former President Agyekum Kufuor has stated that presidents should have no difficulty reshuffling their ministers to breathe new ideas and ingenuity into the government.
“It is the duty of presidents to know which of their ministers are performing and those underperforming so that those who are underperforming are reshuffled to other sectors or relieved of their positions,” he noted.
According to the former president, reshuffling of ministers will make those who were yet to be reshuffled sit up, breathe new ideas into governance and bring ingenuity into the government.
Speaking in an interaction with the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) at his residence in Peduase in the Eastern Region, Former President Kufuor indicated that reshuffling of his ministers was an issue he undertook routinely during his tenure from 2000 to 2008.
He explained that at a point reshuffling persons who contributed effectively, efficiently and significantly to his presidential bid was in the interest of his government however, he did not reshuffle just for the frequency of it.
“At a point reshuffled persons who contributed significantly to my presidential bid was in the interest of my government because I did not reshuffle just for the frequency of it since the president’s role is like the coach and not just a team leader but you have to know what your ministers are doing, whether they are being positive or whether they are just being average.
“When you expect more from them, and you should have the courage to say you do not belong here, go there, or perhaps sit aside and that issue should not be seasonal but it should be continuous so as the citizenry will have hope, trust and confidence in the government to meet their aspirations,” Former President Kufuor underscored.
There have been several calls for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to reshuffle his ministers however, he has pointed out that he would not reshuffle for the sake of it since he evaluated the work of his ministers consistently with many of his appointees discharging their duties excellently.
President Akufo-Addo maintained that their output had been considerable, and that was what he had been looking at and “if the output measures expectations, then I do not have any strong reasons to heed calls to reshuffle them”.
