The Minister of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has waded into the conversation surrounding the call for a reshuffle of the Akufo-Addo-led government.
According to him, the choice to fire or hire an appointee is solely the President’s and no one else’s.
“We are very proud of what we are doing for mother Ghana in this crisis. Yes, in a global crisis where everybody is suffering food shortage, people are coming into our country to raise surpluses; that should be a big achievement,” he said.
Earlier, there had been calls from civil societies and the opposition National Democratic Congress for a reshuffle.
President Nana Akufo-Addo, in his response to the criticisms, said he has decided not to change his team because, in his view, most of them have worked up to expectation.
According to him, the calls for a reshuffle have ulterior motives.
“The calls come for all kinds of reasons; NDC wanting to destabilize the government is one. There are people who are also looking for jobs,” he said earlier on Tamale-based North Star radio.
Buttressing the president’s stance on the reshuffle, the Agric Minister said, “If your boss thinks you are doing a good job, why not? The person who appointed me is the one who can sack me. If somebody asks for me to be sacked, he is not the appointing authority.”
He further expressed hope that the President would not sack him due to his good performance at the Agric Ministry.
“From what I have given you this morning, the work at the Ministry of Agriculture is strong and unprecedented. If you go back 30 years, look at the rate of growth of agriculture, and you will see exactly the objective assessment of what I am saying,” he said in an interview on TV3.
President Akufo-Addo’s only ministerial reshuffle was during his first term in August 2018.
Since then, he made some changes to his ministers and dropped some portfolios after criticism that his government was bloated.
President Akufo-Addo also recently removed revoked the appointment of Sarah Adwoa Safo, who has been absent from work for an extended period.