Ghanaweb carried an article on 29 February 2008, captioned “NDC rejects Anane's nomination” sourced from the Daily Guide Newspaper. In the article, the NDC General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia criticises President Kufuor for re-appointing Dr. Anane as Minister for Transport, a position he resigned after CHRAJ’s adverse findings against him. Asiedu Nketia indicted the President for nominating Dr. Anane to the ministerial position and described it as "a stab in the back of the quest for good governance, morality and dignity in public life." While even close NPP insiders have criticised the President’s decision, the President’s unwillingness to fill the Transport Minister’s role when Dr. Anane resigned signalled his clear intention to re-appoint his friend if he was cleared by the courts. What is however disturbing is that Dr. Anane was only cleared on procedural technicality and the President does not seem to care that the substantive issues could be resurrected through proper protocols as advised by the courts and Dr. Anane will face the embarrassing situation of being forced to resign again.
To the surprise of even NPP insiders, no other person than the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Mr. Kofi Osei Ameyaw, a man with his own problems of being found guilty of professional misconduct by the New South Wales Bar in Australia, has emerged as the front man to defend the Parliamentary Vetting Process. This demonstrates how President Kufuor is out of touch within his own support base in the NPP and the electorate at large. Questions still remain as to why a President, with less than a year to complete his term in office would like to put friendly interest ahead of his own party and the country.
The re-appointment of Mr. Kofi Osei Ameyaw and now Dr. Anane shows that the President is not prepared to restore confidence in governance and hold Ministers to a high standard of moral and ethical values. Mr. Kofi Osei Ameyaw was found guilty of professional misconduct - improperly inducing a client to invest Funds, misleading a client and the Law Society/Bar Association/LSC and failing to advance and protect the interests of his client (Ghanaweb, 27 March 2006 CITATION: New South Wales Bar Association v Osei). When Mr. Osei’s guilty verdict was made public by the Ghana Press, the President did not have any choice but to sack him from his Deputy Trade Ministerial position. The later re-appointment of Mr. Osei Ameyaw shocked even those within his own constituency and demonstrated that the President puts friendship ahead of national interest and does not care of the implications of the appointments of Mr. Kofi Osei Ameyaw and Dr. Anane to the nation’s image.
Let us hope that the Presidency of Dr. Nduom, Nana Akufo Addo, Prof. Mills and others contesting the upcoming Presidential election will not surround themselves with the likes of Dr. Anane, Mr. Kofi Osei Ameyaw and others who have had adverse findings against them in Ghana or overseas. The country is bigger than these individuals and all should protect the country’s interest against corrupt elements in society. Through these appointments, President Kufuor will go down in Ghana’s history as a weak leader who does not give any impetus to his self acclaimed zero tolerance against corruption which has turned into 100% tolerance against corruption and professional misconduct.
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