The President-elect, John Dramani Mahama, has been urged to be circumspect in appointments to his government to ensure that competent persons are placed at the helm of affairs.

Based on his promise to work with a lean government of 60 ministers, his appointments should not be business as usual.

Professor Elijah Yendaw, the Director of the Centre for Migration, Security and International Relations, SDD University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SDD-UBIDS), said meritocracy and competence must form the basis of the appointments.

“I know a lot of people are lobbying, trying to get jobs. Some are just interested in enriching themselves, so the president-elect should be cautious,” he said.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Wa, Prof. Yendaw said the President-elect would have to do a thorough job to appoint people of unquestionable character.

“We want to see his ministers, his appointees, to be men and women of substance, patriots, people who have this country at heart and are willing to help him govern and to deliver”, he said.

Prof. Yendaw, also the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Public Policy and Governance, encouraged Mahama to ensure that all his policies and programmes were evidence-driven and not “trial and error.”

He promised to assist the other university professors who vigorously campaigned for the President-elect with the needed research to ensure all his policies were evidence-based.

He expressed confidence that the proposed policies and programmes of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) would drastically reduce the unemployment rate in Ghana.

Policies including the agricultural mechanisation centres, the one-million coders’ programme, and the youth apprenticeship were “groundbreaking” interventions that could salvage the youth from the unemployment quagmire, Prof Yendaw said.

He mentioned the Women’s Development Bank as a potential “game changer” for women in business to provide easy access to credit facilities to support business growth.

He, therefore, urged Mahama to ensure the successful implementation of those policies and programmes to secure the trust and confidence of Ghanaians.

Prof. Yendaw is the Upper West Regional Coordinator of the Progressive Intellectuals, a National Democratic Congress-affiliate group of University Lecturers and Administrators.