Mahama Must Sack Ayariga, Ablakwa - Political Scientist

The Head of Political Science at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Dr Richard Amoako Baah, has expressed disappointment at President John Mahama�s failure to sack the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mahama Ayariga, and the Deputy Minister of Education, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, in his latest ministerial reshuffle. Speaking Wednesday on Accra-based Joy FM, Dr Amoako Baah said Ayariga had "served the president very poorly� by choosing to engage in "propaganda" that covered up the misdeeds of the government to the detriment of the citizenry. According to him, in instances when Ayariga could have acknowledged government culpability and promised that performance would improve, the Minister chose to defend even the unjustifiable. He said: �One thing that makes me sad is Mahama Ayariga. I think he should be removed because he has served the president very poorly. In terms of propaganda and covering up for misdeeds of the government he has done very well. But has he done well for the country?..absolutely not.� Dr Amoako Baah, who was reacting to Wednesday's ministerial reshuffle, also pointed out that Okudzeto Ablakwa had lost credibility with the people he was representing, stressing that the President ought to have replaced him. He said the President�s failure to change him was a recipe for disaster, since he (Ablakwa) was not dealing in good faith with the Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG) on matters relating to their book and research allowances. "If the president does not change him, he is asking for trouble. That deputy minister has lost credibility with the very people he is supposed to deal with", he emphasised. President Mahama's changes saw him scrap the Ministry of Information of Information and Media Relations, and appoint Ekow Spio Garbrah as the Minister of Trade and Industry. The President also appointed Dr Benjamin Bewa-Nyog Kunbuor (MP) as his new Minister for Defence, replacing Mark Woyongo (MP) who was been reassigned to the Ministry of the Interior.