Gov’t Appointment Not For Self-Enrichment – Nana Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged all government appointees, public and civil servants not to see public office as an avenue for self-enrichment.

According to him, the time had come for all who worked in the name of the state to think carefully about the public interest while occupying their various positions of trust.

He stressed the need for them to, at all times, be mindful of the public interest in all their dealings and also go about their various duties with honesty.

President Nana Akufo-Addo said this when he swore in members of the Free Zones and Audit Service Boards at the Flagstaff House on Wednesday.

He also swore in and presented instrument of office to Alhaji Ahmed Rahmadan, the former National Chairman of the Peoples National Convention (PNC), as Ghana’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirate (UAE).

Membership of the two boards

The members of the Free Zones Board include ace sports journalist and president of the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG), Kwabena Yeboah, who has been re-appointed as a member. He was a member of the board during the NDC tenure and President Akufo-Addo has re-appointed him.

The Audit Service Board is chaired by Dr Edward Dua Agyeman with its members being Nana Kwasi Agyekum-Dwamena, Dennis Kwadjo Young Vormawor, Joyce Opoku-Boateng, James Frempong, Emmanuel Mainoo Owusu Ansah and Daniel Yaw Domelevo.

The board for the Free Zones is chaired by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Alan Kyeremanteng while other members are the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Free Zones Board (FZB), Mr Michael Okyere Baafi, Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh, Mr Kwabena Yeboah and Madam Rosemary Beryl Archer. The others are Mr Kingsley Kojo Fosu, Mad. Susana Aga Alo, Mr Osei Kuffuor Kankam and Mad. Barbara Akoukor Benisa.

Turn your backs on the old Ghana

For the President, the time had come for the nation to turn its back on the old practice where public office was perceived as an avenue for making unmerited wealth.

“We are in a time when we have to think carefully about the interest of the public in everything we do and beyond everything, we are required to provide our responsibilities with honesty and integrity. We want to turn our backs on the old Ghana where public office is seen as an avenue for self-enrichment,” he stated.

The President added that the Board ought to work together in order to achieve the ambitious plan they had set for themselves.

Reactions

In his remarks, the chairman of the Board and Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyeremateng assured the President that they would at all times execute their duties with integrity, honesty and make the public interest their watch word.

He was observant of the fact that the Board was assuming office at a crucial time when the government was undertaking a serious transformational agenda.

In furtherance of that mission, he pledged that they would position themselves strategically to provide the needed support to help materialize the vision of the government.

The Chairman of the Audit Service Board, Professor Duah Agyemang, in his response, assured the President that the board would make sure that its constitutional mandate was carried out strictly as required by law.