Financial Analyst, Sydney Casely-Hayford is suggesting that if the immediate past Local Government Minister, Akwasi Oppong Fosu was dismissed due to the sanitation crisis in the capital, then the Mayor should also be shown the exit.<\/p>\n
He asked; \u201cthe Minister of Local Government has been dismissed. Was he responsible for the garbage? Is that his job or is it the job of the Mayor? …But then you have to dismiss the Mayor too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Oppong Fosu was on Friday dismissed by the President and was replaced by Eastern Regional Minister, Julius Debrah.<\/p>\n
It is unclear what caused the Minister to lose his job but it is believed that the decision was taken because of the persisting sanitation problems in Accra.<\/p>\n
For over a month, there were heaps of garbage in front of the homes of residents and on the streets of the Metropolis following the refusal of waste management companies to collect them.<\/p>\n
They cited the unavailability of landfill sites to dump the refuse and debt owed them by government.<\/p>\n
The situation was worsened after the Accra Compost and Recycling Plan shut down operations and retrenched about 100 of its workers.<\/p>\n
But Mr. Casely-Hayford is of the opinion that the sector Minister is mandated to carry out an oversight responsibility on Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), therefore, the Metropolitan Chief who is directly responsible for ensuring sanitation in his area of jurisdiction must equally be punished.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if in this case, you are the Mayor of a city and your city is beginning to smell because your garbage is not being collected, is it your Minister\u2019s fault?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
He disagreed with the dismissal of Mr. Oppong Fosu but was quick to add that \u201cif there are other reasons like if he had some involvement in the Subah motorcycle deal or there are other issues which have come up in the past which we are not privy to, then why not? Tell us what the reasons are,\u201d Casely-Hayford implored the President.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the financial analyst is urging the President, John Mahama to root out all non-performing Ministers and political appointees.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to see a little bit more of a shaking up,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n
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By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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