…While Anane, Akomea Set To Return

Mr. Jake Otanka Obetsebi Lamptey, Minister for Tourism and Diaporan Relations and Hon. Papa Owusu Ankomah, Minister of Education, have tendered in their resignations in line with last Tuesday’s directive by President Kufuor to his Ministers aspiring for the presidential candidate of the party to wrap up and quit to pusuetheir campaign activities.

In an interview with the paper yesterday, the Tourism Minister said he was currently bidding farewell to departments and agencies that were under his sector.

“Oh Honourable, that means you have already resigned?” we enquired, and he laughed and responded, “well, you can work it out yourselves. I believe you have the mechanism to do your checks to find that out.”

Sources close to Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey said he had tendered in his resignation as far back as last Tuesday and was only waiting to hear the response of the President. The Minister is said to be preparing to embark upon an intensive campaign tour for the presidential candidature of the party. His first point of call is expected to be the northern sector of the country.

For his part, the Education Minister neither confirmed nor denied the information obtained from sources close to him that he had tendered in his resignation when he was contacted at about 7:30pm when a cabinet meeting had ended.

He asked where the paper got the information from and when he was told that we were informed by sources close to him, he responded jokingly, “oh but I just attended cabinet meeting.” His line went off and we could not establish contact with him again to ask him further questions.

Defence Minister, Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor and Communications Minister, Prof. Mike Oquaye, had also put in their resignation letters on Wednesday. The Communications Minister returned home Wednesday evening without his police bodyguard and his official driver. He is said to have asked them to withdraw immediately after tendering in his resignation. Foreign Minister, Hon. Nana Akufo Addo; Hon. Hackman Owusu Agyeman, Water Resources, Works and Housing Minister; Mr. Alan Kyeremanten, Minister for Trade, Industry and PSI and Mr. Felix Owusu Agyepong, Parliamentary Affairs Minister are the other four Minister-aspirants who are also expected to quit in line with the President’s directive.

Sources close to these Ministers say they have all not tendered in their resignations yet as they are bent on persuading the president to back down on his decision.

They were therefore said to have sighed with deep relief when the President relaxed his directive yesterday, announcing at Cabinet that the Minister-aspirants could resign immediately but added that he would however allow those who would want to be given more time to wrap up, to stay on till July ending.

Dr. Anane To Be Back

Highly placed sources close to the Presidency have hinted The Chronicle that Dr. Richard Anane, former Road Transport Minister who resigned last year following a ruling by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) indicting him for perjury, conflict of interest, abuse of power and office, is expected to be reappointed by President Kufuor any time from today.

It could not be confirmed which portfolio the minister would be appointed to but expectations are high that the former Minister would be sent back to head the Road Transport Ministry which has not had a substantive Minister since Anane’s resignation.

Dr. Anane is known to be the darling boy of President Kufuor, and had to resign under very controversial circumstances after the CHRAJ ruling which also recommended to the president to fire him.

Former Special Assistant to the former Minister who has since remained close to him, Mr. Ken Anku, told The Chronicle on Wednesday that he would not be surprised to see his former boss reappointed as a cabinet Minister.

“Well, what I can say is that Dr. Anane was a hardworking Minister; he was not found to be corrupt and even the issues that were raised against him by the CHRAJ ruling have been quashed by the Justice Bafo Bonnie ruling. So I will definitely not be surprised to see him going back to the Transport Ministry as Minister,” 59 year-old Mr. Anku who is described in media circles as the hatchet man of the former Minister, disclosed.

Subsequent to the ruling by CHRAJ, the Minister filed a suit at an Accra High Court to challenge the ruling of the Human Rights Commission. The Court presided over by Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie ruled to overturn the CHRAJ ruling. But the Commission has since appealed against the High Court ruling.

When asked about the appeal case and its implications, Mr. Anku said, “the appeal does not constitute a stay of execution and as far as I am concerned, the Boffoe-Bonnie ruling has cleared him.”

Dr. Anane’s woes emanated from an amorous relationship with an American woman, Alexandria O’ Brian, with whom he had a baby boy. He later described the relationship as a regrettable one.

Sources close to the castle have also hinted that the impending reshuffle would see Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr. Emmanuel Owusu Ansah, being brought back to Accra to possibly head the Education Ministry. Others tipped to be appointed are Hon. Nana Akomea, MP for Okaikoi South and former Information Minister in the first term of the Kufuor administration and Mr. Maxwell Kofi Jumah, former Metropolitan Chief Executive for Kumasi and MP for Asokwa.

Interestingly, Mr. Randy Abbey, Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has also been mentioned as someone likely to take the position of Mr. O. B. Amoah, as Deputy Minister of Education, Science and Sports to be mainly in charge of the Sports sub-sector.