General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party John Boadu says Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo owes no one explanation on decisions he takes as the President unless that is required of him by the 1992 constitution.
On the back of the dismissal of Boakye Agyarko as the Energy Minister on Monday following the botched renegotiated Ameri deal, some Ghanaians have asked for reasons for the president’s action as well as full disclosure on the controversial deal.
The President who is set to reshuffle his government in the coming days, is yet to respond to the calls for explanation on the reason(s) behind the sacking of Mr. Agyarko.
But Mr. Boadu appearing on TV3’s New Day on Wednesday said explanations demanded of the President on decisions he make ought to be within the confines of the country’s constitution else the President is not obliged to provide same.
“If people ask for explanation, it must be asked within the context of what our constitution provides,” he pointed out, adding “If you ask for explanation on a particular issue and it is not provided within the contest of our constitution I don’t think there is the need to respond to it”.
When asked what caused the President to sack Mr. Agyarko, the General Secretary who sits in the Akufo-Addo government cabinet meeting explained that the appointment and dismissals of government officials is not always based on their competence.
Mr. Boadu indicated that a number of factors are considered in the processes.
“Sometimes reasons for appointments or disappointments have nothing to do with the competence of the individuals; sometimes it is about his attitude, sometimes it is about the way he implements projects, sometimes it is about the way he even receives people,” he stated.
He added that “there is no government that can go out there to announce that his minister is arrogant” for which reason he was sacked.
Touching on the performance of Mr. Agyarko, Mr. Boadu said he performed satisfactorily within the about one and a half years he served as the Energy Minister.
“Obviously he has shown within the almost one a half years of being a minister, he has shown that he’s competent, he’s shown that he’s capable of managing what was given to him to the extent that he’s been able to resolve the almost unending dumsor we faced as a country,” he said.