Major ministerial reshuffle expected tomorrow

The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is expected to announce his most radical ministerial reshuffle since he took office on 7 January 2017. The announcement of the changes to the line-up of ministers, our Jubilee House sources say, is scheduled for Wednesday (14 February, Valentine’s Day).

This Tuesday afternoon witnessed several movements to the fourth floor of Jubilee House by ministers expected to be affected and other MPs expected to benefit from the ministerial changes.

The president, as required by the 1992 constitution, will submit the list of ministerial appointments to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, and the appointments will be announced on the floor of Parliament.

President Akufo-Addo will be travelling out of the country to Europe tomorrow, Valentine’s Day, on an official engagement in the Federal Republic of Germany. The list should be delivered to the Speaker tomorrow.

Sources close to the Office of the Presidency say that up to 12 current, substantive ministers of state may be affected, including ten cabinet ministers and two regional ministers.

Sources on the third and fourth floors of Jubilee House confirm that some very big names will be among those dropped from their positions as ministers of state. While some may be dropped completely, others are expected to be reshuffled.

It is also anticipated that about seven deputy ministers will lose out. The biggest beneficiaries are expected to be backbenchers from the Majority side of the House, several of whom will fill the vacant slots.

According to other sources at Jubilee House, President Akufo-Addo has been using the whole of the time available to him today to meet with all the ministers and deputy ministers who may be shifting places, leaving, or joining his government in the upcoming reshuffle.

Sources on the fourth floor of Jubilee House also say there is talk of a possible reshuffle of the leaders of the Majority in Parliament. This change, one source says, will follow a planned meeting between the leadership of the ruling New Patriotic Party and the presidency, to take place soon.

Source: asaaseradio