General News of Monday, 30 December 2019
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2019-12-30Ministries with the most headaches in 2019
Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah had his ministry in the news for various reasons
With the implementation of several social intervention programs under the Akufo-Addo-led government, it can be out rightly ruled that some specific government ministries and their corresponding departments and agencies got extremely busy with the repercussions of such programmes.
Some ministries also got busy by getting entangled in some contractual controversies, the explanations of which is oblivious to the
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GhanaWeb in this article intends to highlight some of these government ministries who headlined new bulletins for their hard work and commitment to the developmental course in 2019, as well as, their controversies.
Education Ministry
Following the implementation of the Free SHS program in 2017, the Education Ministry, headed by Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has been in the news addressing its issues.
For the most part of 2019, the Ministry of Education came under severe pressure which were as a result of the accumulated issues with the rollout of the Double-tract System in the previous year.
Also, the alleged attempt to include the contentious Controversial Sexuality Education (CSE) in basic school syllabi made the Education Ministry’s head a subject of public abuse.
Ministry of Information
The Ministry of Information, per its role, is responsible for being the liaison between the Ghanaian people and the government. And true to this, it has done just that, from its consistent organisation of ‘Meet-the-Press’, where ministries address controversial issues and the moderation of some government events.
The ministry, however, came under several attacks when it took it upon itself to rather address Ghanaians on the kidnap of some two Canadian girls, instead of the National Security.
Ministry of Communications
The Ministry of Communication headed by Ursula Owusu-Ekufful would have remained out of the conversation of Ghanaians until the opposition NDC started to raise concerns about the controversial Kelni GVG deal, this year.
The deal which was signed to develop and implement a common platform for monitoring mobile phone traffic and corresponding revenue in Ghana has come under a lot of scrutiny since its inception.
The Communication Ministry became more unpopular after the Communication Service Tax was increased from 6 to 9%.
This didn’t sit well with many Ghanaians after Telcos took it out on consumers to deduct upfront charges on unused data. The agitation amongst several other related issues gave the Ursula Owusu-Ekufful-led ministry a lot of ‘headache’.
The Finance Ministry
The alleged organisation of a kenkey party for staff of the finance ministry after the successful issuance of the 3 billion Dollars Eurobond amidst an ‘economic crisis’ brought the ministry under several attacks. Since then, the ministry has had no rest.
From the rollout of the mid-year budget review to the 2020 budget statement, the ministry of finance by far could pass as the busiest with several headaches.
The Energy Ministry
The Energy Ministry, headed by John-Peter Amewu features on the list due to the seeming inability of government to nid Ghana’s energy crisis in the bud.
The ministry hit the front pages in April 2019 after ‘dumsor’ reared its head and has since not been able to settle the pressure from Ghanaians.
When the PDS/ECG controversies rolled out, the Energy Ministry came at the fore and there were several calls for the sector Minister, John Peter Amewu to be sacked.
The National Security Ministry and the Interior Ministry
The two ministries have had no peace this year following these sour turnout of events of the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-elections which opened the year.
The fall outs of the Takoradi girls’ kidnap and subsequent declaration of their death, as well as, the kidnap of the Canadian girls gave these Ministries no breathing space. Not only has that, the rampant high profile murders throughout the year added to the list.
The ministries and some of its leaders have been shamed for their inability to address issues of relevance to the ministries.
Sanitation Ministry
If all efforts could yield positive results, the Ministry of Sanitation would have won a global award for its continuous efforts in dealing with the Sanitation issues in the country.
The ministry put in several efforts in eradicating the menace of filth which has shackled the capital city Accra and most parts of the country. Even though it has not been embroiled in a lot of controversies, the ministry, spearheaded by Cynthia Dapaah has done a commendable job in keeping Ghana clean.
