Changes in Mills’ government overdue - Kofi Bentil

Mahama Ayariga thinks the media have misrepresented President Mills A governance analyst, Kofi Bentil, has asked the president to effect the necessary changes in his government if he wants Ghana developed, as he wants it and as expected of him. He told Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Monday that being in office for over seven months is enough time for President Atta Mills to assess his government machinery to ascertain which areas desire changes. “We can say the president was not very sure about everybody he puts in his cabinet, three months down the line he should have done some kind of assessment, six months down the line he should know clearly who he wants to work with and not, so seven months and looking this undecided is a bit of a problem.” There have been media reports over the weekend on a response the President gave during a press conference on Saturday in the Central Region on the performance of his ministers and the need for immediate reshuffle, which suggested that the president was not happy about the performance of some of them. Making his assessment based on President Mills’ statement, Mr Bentil inferred that the president admitted things were not working well in his administration, but was not forthright on changes and time to make them. He blamed the president for delaying in making the needed changes, adding that after about seven months in government, the president has no excuse for not effecting those changes. Touching on government’s information machinery, Mr Bentil believes with the kind of resources available – both personnel and logistics – they have not done enough to sell government’s idea to the populace. However, Mr Mahama Ayariga, the Presidential Spokesperson, who was on the same programme, said the president’s statement was taken out of context, which was widely reported by the media as scoring low marks for his ministers. Obviously not enthused by the comment passed by Mr Bentil, Mr Ayariga said comparing the running of a government to corporate institution as used by Mr Bentil’s analysis was “totally erroneous”. “To say the least, it is the most flawed assessment of what the president said that I have heard so far because we all heard the president clearly… Secondly, to say the least, it is the most flawed analogy that anyone can ever make…” Story by Isaac Essel Myjoyonline.com/Ghana