Mills Angry

The issue of the quality of government ministers appears not to be dying anytime soon, as an angry President John Evans Atta Mills yesterday personally called into a Joy Fm programme, demanding the replay of a statement he had made on the subject because he felt he had been quoted out of context. The President, unable to endure the tongue-lashing from callers and �texters� on the station�s morning show programme over his admission that some of his ministers were weak and underperforming, called into the radio show and asked the host of the programme, Evans Mensah, to replay his interaction with journalists so Ghanaians would hear where he made the confession. Joy FM had earlier played the President�s statement on the subject during his recent visit to the Central Region in which he was reported to have admitted that although some of his ministers were not up-to-scratch, he could not be stampeded into reshuffling his cabinet now. No sooner had the report hit town than a cross of section of Ghanaians subjected the President to tongue-lashing, with most of them asking why he was maintaining a team whose quality he could not vouch for and at the expense of the tax payer? Even as the programme lasted, the President called the station, requesting that the tape be played back so his position could receive its exact tone. Unfortunately, the quality of the sound was as unfavourable, with Evans Mensah promising to fulfill President Mills' desire today when the sound would have been worked on by the station�s technician. The issue of the quality of Mills� ministers stands as one of the most critical points raised by ex-President Jerry John Rawlings against the man he literally shepherded to the presidency. Many months after Rawlings� criticism, Mills gave a subtle endorsement to the position when he reportedly noted that although some of his lieutenants were below standard, changes would not take place now. He blamed it on the often-touted bad economy inherited from the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) Administration. Mills was particularly peeved with Majority Leader, Alban Bagbin, who also joined ex-President Rawlings� disapproval rating for some of the incumbent ministers. Frowning at the Majority Leader�s position, he dismissed it and stated that the gentleman did not have any criteria for assessing the performance of the ministers. The party, he noted, had been in power for only eight months �and nobody can pressurize me to reshuffle my ministers�. NDC party founder Rawlings� description of some Mills ministers had not been charitable, as he preferred to use such words as �characters� in reference to them. The ex-President subtly sided with the Minority in Parliament when he queried the Appointments Committee for endorsing the appointments of the said ministers. Another sign that the President was not going to reshuffle his cabinet anytime soon found a place in the comments by Presidential Spokesperson Mahama Ayariga. Ayariga, while speaking on a Joy FM radio programme yesterday, disclosed that the President had good reasons for maintaining that he would not reshuffle his cabinet anytime soon. However, he stated that although the President found his communication machinery not too good, work was ongoing to ensure that things change positively in terms of the output of the department. �But as president, he is admitting that his information dissemination and communication apparatus might not necessarily be perfect. He is admitting that he is working on it and trying to make sure that it achieves the desired goals which basically to him is the goal of ensuring that whatever policies and programmes we disseminate is able to get to the people so that they can understand us better in terms of what we are doing, how we are doing it, to be able to participate in the process,� Ayariga stated. However, a management consultant with IMANI, a public policy think-tank group, Kofi Bentil, said the President�s statement suggested the performance of his team was not up-to-scratch and required immediate reshuffling. Mr. Bentil said a reshuffle was long overdue, adding that it would add to the president�s scorecard if he drags his feet on it. President Mills has already lost one of his ministers, Hon. Muntaka Mubarak, following alleged cases of malfeasance leveled against him, although he was cleared by a Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).