Majority Leader in Parliament, James Agalga, has defended President John Dramani Mahama’s ministers against calls for a ministerial reshuffle by the Minority.
He argued that the appointment and assessment of ministers remain the sole prerogative and responsibility of the President.
President Mahama, he said, has his own mechanism for evaluating the performance of his appointees and is satisfied with their work, explaining that the absence of a reshuffle reflects his confidence in the ministers.
Mr Agalga was responding to Minority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh, who has threatened to push for a major ministerial reshuffle over what he described as the failure of some government ministers to appear before Parliament to answer questions.
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Speaking during Friday’s presentation of Parliament’s Business Statement for the following week, the Majority Leader rejected the suggestion that ministers should face reshuffling because of their failure to honour parliamentary invitations.
“For the Minority Whip to suggest that ministers be reshuffled at this House because they don’t appear to answer questions, Mr Speaker, is a matter that is not one for his consideration,” Mr Agalga said.
He maintained that President Mahama, as the appointing authority, has the responsibility to determine whether his ministers are performing satisfactorily and when changes to his government are necessary.
“The appointing authority is His Excellency the President. He has his scheme of assessing his ministers of state, and I can assure you that all his ministers are performing creditably well. That is why he hasn’t carried out any reshuffles,” he told the House.
Mr Agalga urged the Minority Chief Whip to refrain from attempting to dictate how the President should exercise his constitutional mandate.
“Honourable Minority Chief Whip, please allow the President to do his work. Don’t encroach on his mandate. He’s very responsible and knows when to act. Don’t dictate the pace for Mr President, please,” he added.
The exchange followed concerns raised by Mr Annoh-Dompreh over the failure of some ministers to appear before Parliament to respond to questions scheduled for them.
The Minority Chief Whip warned that the opposition would no longer treat ministers who repeatedly failed to honour parliamentary invitations with leniency.
He argued that ministers who are absent from parliamentary proceedings are undermining the House’s oversight responsibilities and limiting opportunities for lawmakers to scrutinise their performance.
“We are not going to treat you with kid gloves again. And again, ministers who don’t come and respond to questions, they should be ready,” he cautioned.
Mr Annoh-Dompreh threatened that the Minority Caucus would push for a major reshuffle, arguing that ministers who fail to make themselves available for parliamentary accountability should be prepared to face consequences.
“Ministers who have not shown up, we are going to push for a major reshuffle,” he declared.