Governance and security expert Palgrave Boakye-Danquah has criticised the Ghanaian government for leaving the Defence Ministry without a substantive minister for nearly 7 months, saying the delay poses a potential risk to national security.
Speaking on The Forum, a weekend current affairs programme on Asaase Radio, Boakye-Danquah questioned the decision to appoint the finance minister as caretaker of the Defence Ministry instead of the Minister for the Interior, suggesting it has created administrative and operational challenges.
“In the security architecture, one day is too long, and now we have almost six to seven months without a substantive minister for defence. The president should have made the minister for the interior a caretaker minister for the Ministry of Defence. However, he appointed the minister for finance,” he said.
Framework
The former government spokesperson stressed the importance of creating a framework to ensure critical ministerial positions are filled promptly.
“Six months down the line, the minister for the interior has to travel from his jurisdiction to go to a foreign country to administer responsibilities that have not been administered to him as minister for defence,” Boakye-Danquah stated.
“It is important that we begin to have a framework that puts the president within a timeline to replace certaintypes of ministers, especially because of the critical roles they play,” he added.
He highlighted the president’s dual responsibility as Commander-in-Chief and acting Defence Minister, warning that delays in appointments can become “threats and triggers” for Ghana’s security.
“While the president processes who is best placed, the position should not be left vacant. I pray we remedy this before Ghana turns 69 years, which is just a few weeks away,” he stated.
“Becoming Too Long”
Also speaking in an interview on the programme was security analyst Col. Festus Aboagye (Rtd.), who pointed out that although the deputy minister has been sharing responsibilities with the president, the delay in appointing a substantive minister since August is becoming “too long.”
“The issues of defence are very different from finance, and those issues are not all financial. There are many other technical aspects of defence management that this minister may not have time to attend to,” he added.
“So far, nothing has happened that directly shows the absence of a substantive minister has caused issues, but it is a governance matter. The government must come out and tell Ghanaians why the position has not been filled,” he said.
He suggested that the upcoming State of the Nation address could be an opportunity for the president to announce a nominee, stressing that prolonged delays are inconsistent with standard timelines for filling critical government positions.
“The other argument is that when MPs vacate their seats, there are prescribed timelines for replacement. Even if there are no specific provisions in our laws for replacing a minister of defence, we could be guided by the provisions that exist for a chief justice, speaker, or MP,” he said.
Government Reaction
Meanwhile, the Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has assured Ghanaians that President John Dramani Mahama will appoint a substantive Defence Minister at the “appropriate time”.
Speaking in an interview on Joy FM, he dismissed concerns that the delay in appointing a substantive minister has created a vacuum within the country’s security architecture.
Responding to criticism from sections of the opposition and security analysts, he noted that there is currently no governance gap at the Ministry of Defence.
The government also rejected suggestions that the President is facing difficulty in identifying a successor, insisting that no such indication has been given.
“The President has not indicated any difficulty whatsoever in naming a substantive minister. He believes it ought to be done at the right time and within a given timeframe. When that decision is made, it will be communicated,” he explained.
