Franklin Cudjoe Takes on Ursula Owusu Over Ministerial Appointment

Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful should not be retained as Communications Minister in President Nana Akufo-Addo’s second administration, Franklin Cudjoe, President of Imani Africa has said.

Mr Cudjoe believed that the Ablekuma West lawmaker performed poorly at the ministry hence, should not be reappointed in any ministerial capacity.

The Imani boss, who rated her performance 30 percent, however, believes that she remains an asset to the nation, therefore, should be given a lower role to play.

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“I don’t believe she should be retained as Minister of Communications, maybe a much lower, lesser role to play within the government because she is still a good asset. I think she was a poor minister when it comes to Communications, especially from 2018 and 2019 going.

“Some of the decisions she maneuvered were very poor. She had poor relations with her constituency which are the telcos, poor policy planning and poor revenue making for the country. These are things that make me think that she deserves 30 percent,” he said while speaking on the Key Points on TV3 in relation to the impending ministerial appointments to be done by President Nana Akufo-Addo.

Regarding the Finance Ministry, he said the former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, will have a tough time at the Appointment’s Committee of Parliament if he is re-nominated for the same post by President Akufo-Addo.

According to him, although competent, Mr Ofori-Atta will be grilled especially by the National Democratic Congress members on the committee following some deals including the Agyapa Royalties agreement that he introduced on behalf of the Government of Ghana.

The Imani boss described the Agyapa deal as bad and poor judgment on the part of Mr Ofori-Atta.

Mr Cudjoe said: “I know Ken is going to go into chopping room, the opposition is going to chop him up and they have a line of arsenals they are going to throw at him.

“Some of them will stick but eventually real politics will play and I think he could be retained. The president has no choice, I don’t think he has anybody else to really choose.”

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He further rated the performance of Mr Ofori-Atta 65 percent when he was the Finance Minister in President Akufo-Addo’s first term.

He told host of the programme Abena Tabi that before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in Ghana the local economy was doing well due to the hard work done by the Finance Minister.

“There are few notables that the president cannot do without and loyalty is key. [The President] is also looking at technical competence and the Finance Minister is obviously one of them.

“There are many hanging swords around the Finance Minister’s neck. The likes of PDS and Agyapa, Kelni. These are notable badly done deals that unfortunately haven’t led to some good legacies of the Finance Minister.

“Having said that though, you can’t take from him the fact that he is technically competent. The macroeconomic indicators were looking better up until we had Covid.

“I am sure he himself has had some remorseful moments to look back and say:’Can Agyapa be done differently? Can you probably change the name and then make sure that you bring it back to the table in a manner that is very conciliatorily, that everybody’s views are well addressed and all of that’?”

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These agreements, he said, stained the reputation of Mr Ofori-Atta.

“Knowing the Finance Minister, when he wants to do something he goes ahead to do it but with these three incidents, I have given him some moments to reflect on them.

“I think he must have done about 60 to 65 percent well per my analysis, and so, if he is given the nod he must ensure that he is leaving a better name than he left the last four years in office,” he said.