The Head of the Department for Public Administration at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), Dr. Justice Bawole is advocating for the enactment of legislative guidelines to streamline presidents power to appoint people into public office.
President Nana Akufo-Addo since taking over from former president John Mahama has been firing heads of public institutions, the latest being the Chief Executives of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) and the Land Commission.
Also, he relieved the Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) Ernest Thompson of his post.
In order to curb this from happening in the future, there was the need for guidelines by way of legislation, argued Dr. Bawole.
Speaking Thursday on Morning Starr, he said the president has the liberty to appoint but the appointments should be such that “[the appointees] term of office expires with the president.”
In that case, according to him, the appointees would leave office knowing the agreement terms before starting work.
“This whole issue of a new government kicking out people will not be an issue anymore,” he told host Nii Arday Clegg.
Need for competence
Also, he said it was time to allow people with expertise to head public institutions.
He argued that appointments should not be just about getting people to fill positions, noting that “their qualifications is what we need to look at.”
Prof. Atsu Ayee from University of Ghana’s Political Science Department concurs, stating that the people are mostly appointed into public office because they belong to political parties and “not because they are competent.”
He thus called for the revision of how appointments are made, urging the presidents to cast their “nets wide” and appoint competent people to work for the development of the country.
