The Chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG), Right Reverend Professor Emmanuel Martey has chastised the President for appointing “school boys” into his government.
“As we see today, school boys are preferred to experienced politicians,” he stated.
He said there are not enough experienced hands helping the President effectively run the affairs of the country, hence the increased hardships being experienced by Ghanaians.
Political commentators, some Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and some opposition political parties have complained about the calibre of persons being appointed to serve in the Mahama-led administration.
These complaints initially began when the late President John Mills appointed youthful individuals to work in his government mostly as Deputy Ministers.
His appointments were however met with mixed reactions. While some commended him for giving the youth the chance to contribute to governance, others were convinced that governance was the preserve for the old, experienced and capable individuals.
His successor, President Mahama followed in his stead by maintaining the young Ministers and subsequently made further additions.
But according to the CCG chairman, the inexperienced young people are employed for the sole purpose of victimizing political opponents and the practice must cease.
He explained that victimization can take place “within the same party where factions that win the primaries will persecute the losers and their supporters. This is what I call intra-party victimization.”
Speaking at a consultative forum organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) to propose reforms to the ‘Winner Takes All’ governance system which breeds political exclusion, Prof. Martey stated that victimization of political opponents will cease if the ‘Winner Takes All’ politics is scrapped.
He added that qualified and experienced Ghanaians should be given key positions to propel the development of the nation.
The CCG chairman therefore advised that the ongoing constitutional reforms being undertaken by the Constitutional Review Implementation Committee (CRIC) should consider removing the ‘Winner Takes All’ article in the 1992 constitution to sanitize the political scene in Ghana.
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @osamidan