by Delali Adogla-Bessa
The presidential transition process will face several challenges, a governance fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Professor Ransford Gyampoh has said.
Prof. Gyampoh explained that, the office of Administrator General, which is critical to overseeing the transition process, is in dire need of resources to execute its mandate under the amended Presidential Transitional Act.
“In the law, there is a time period that he is supposed to go, take an audit of assets of the state, those at the presidency, those at the ministry departments and agencies, and then document them and all that,” Prof. Gyampoh said of the Administrator General to Citi News.
He however added that “you speak to him and he is helpless because he has a problem with office space, he has no vehicle, he as no serious staff working with him; and he suffers logistical challenges that will enable him to work.”
Until the enactment of the Presidential Transition Act, 2012 (Act 845), there was no legal blueprint that governed the transition of political power in the country.
Before the enactment of the Law, transitions in the country had been characterised by administrative lapses, forced evictions and seizure of vehicles.
But Prof. Gyampoh warned that “at the end of the day, we have a fine blueprint called the Presidential Transition Act, but it lacks the Administrator General who would be the key official to push the process and to ensure the full implementation of the Act.”
The transition process began on Sunday after a team was inaugurated by President John Mahama.
President Mahama on Saturday announced the 16-member team comprising seven members of the National Democratic Congress government and nine from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) who will be leading next government.
The team also includes the Head of the Civil Service, Head of the Local Government Service, Secretary to the Cabinet and the National Security Coordinator in accordance with the provisions of the Presidential Transition Act 2012 (Act 845).
The team is expected to commence work ahead of the of the official swearing-in of the President-elect, Nana Akufo Addo as President of the Republic on January 7, 2017.
Members of the team area:
Julius Debrah- Chief of Staff
Marietta Brew Appiah Opong- Attorney General & Minister for Justice
Seth E. Terkper- Minister for Finance
Prosper Bani- Minister for the Interior
Dr. Benjamin Kunbour- Minister for Defence
Hanna S. Tetteh- Minister for Foreign Affairs & Regional Integration
Alhaji Collins Dauda- Minister for Local Government & Rural Development
Representing the President-elect, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo are:
Yaw Osafo Maafo- Representative of the President-elect
Frema Osei Opare- Head of the Staff of Office of the President-elect
Gloria Akuffo- Member responsible for Legal Affairs
Ken Ofori- Atta- Member responsible for Finance
Ambrose Dery- Member responsible for the Interior
Dominic Nitiwul- Member responsible for Defence
Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey- Member responsible for Foreign Affairs
Hajia Alima Mahama- Member responsible for Local Government
Albert Kan Dapaah- Member responsible for National Security
To read the full piece from Citi FM, click here.