As usual, I read the article of the young man by the name of Mr. Amos Blessing Amorse, titled “Re: Eight CEOs Directed to Retire” Opinions Modernghana.com 1/26/19) with the sort of amusement with which one reacts to the argument of a clearly intelligent but grossly misguided young man who may very well be poised to becoming a very useful and even significant personality in Ghanaian society, or wherever Mr. Amorse may find himself someday. In the main, the critic faults the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for having supposedly appointed some 8 overage CEOs of some state institutions, contrary to strict guidelines and stipulations laid down by Ghana’s 1992 Republican Constitution.
Maybe if this young critic really cared about justice and fair play, he would also have discussed the insertion of those Indemnity Clauses, so-called, that have made it possible for political and common criminals who ought to be serving time in prison to get elected as leaders and executive operatives in government, under the tenures of National Democratic Congress’ regimes. You see, young man, you simply just can’t select your own moral and/or even constitutional yardstick, or criteria, and casually and glibly proceed to measure the decisions of leaders and much more experienced adult-Ghanaian citizens who clearly have a far better appreciation of the laws of our land than yourself. You see, most of the CEOs that Mr. Amorse is trying to fuss with do not really need the jobs whose “fat salaries” the young critic would have refunded the same to the State.
Most of them, if not all of them, have already distinguished themselves in their respective professions; a couple of them may even be able to buy and privately operate several of the institutions which they presently head. In other words, instead of frivolously bickering about the ages of these CEOs, namely, Messrs. Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie (aka Sir John), 65 years old; Eugene Ofosuhene, 67 years old; Maxwell Kofi Jumah, 68 years old; Isaac Osei, 67 years old; Kwame Owusu, 67 years old; Anthony Nsiah Asare, 65 years old; and KK Sarpong, 65 years, the critic would do himself and his audience much better by boning up on their profiles or vitae and reviewing their respective job performances and then comparing the same with the performances of those who previously held the same positions.
If he undertakes the foregoing task, the young critic would then get a better sense of why these men were appointed to their respective posts by President Akufo-Addo. Merely appointing candidates to jobs for which they may not be equal to or qualified for, on the mere basis of age will obviously not be a wise move on the part of a results-oriented leader like President Akufo-Addo. Besides, nearly every one of the CEOs named here is a political appointee, rather than a career civil servant, which is what the various sections of the Constitution that Mr. Amorse quotes and/or references are clearly about.
I am also quite certain that the President would have absolutely no qualms about extending the tenures or contractual terms of reference of these CEOs, if he finds their work, so far, to have been impressive and they are healthy enough and willing to continue with their services to the man who appointed them to their respective positions and the general Ghanaian public at large. This is what apparently forward-looking young people like Mr. Amos Blessing Amorse ought to be concerning themselves with.
*Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs
The views expressed by this author remain solely their own and are not to be taken as the view of the Editorial Board of www.africanewsanalysis.com, www.zongonews.com and African Diaspora Media Group