Otiko Djaba out, Oppong Nkrumah elevated, Mustapha-Hamid shifted; but ministers remain 110

Otiko Afisa Djaba is likely to be dropped

This is not the best time to be a minister of state in Ghana. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is about name the men and women who will make it to the second half of his four-year mandate. Uneasiness among the ministers of state is heightened. Stomachs are churning. Hearts are pounding. And some faces are contorted in distaste.

The list is yet to be officially made public. But Joy News sources in government say the list is almost complete. And with the firing of Boakye Agyarko from the Energy Ministry, it appears there is nobody who is indispensable in Nana Akufo-Addo’s government.

Some will not make it the second half of Nana’s presidency, according to sources. The Minister of Gender and Social Protection, Otiko Afisa Djaba, according to sources will be dropped.

The Minister for Aviation, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, is said to be moving to the Ministry of Sanitation. It is not clear where the current Sanitation Minister, Joseph Kofi Addah, will go.

The Information Minister, Dr. Abdul Mustapha-Hamid, will head for the Ministry of Zongo and Inner City Development. The fate of the current occupant of that ministry, Boniface Abubakar Sadique, is yet to be announced.

Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, one of the three deputy ministers of information, is likely to be named as the substantive minister for information following the movement of Dr. Mustapha-Hamid.

Highly placed sources in government say the health ministry is likely to be affected.

For those who have criticised the number of ministers and hoped President Akufo-Addo would use this reshuffle to prune the number, they will be disappointed. Some sources have told Manasseh Azure Awuni that the number of ministers will not be reduced. Number will remain 110.The sources further said the reshuffle will not be wide spread. “It won’t be an earthquake,” a source said.