"Go-come go-come" attitude will not be tolerated -JAK

President John Agyekum Kufuor on Wednesday asked ministers to ensure that red tapeism in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies were eliminated in the country.

"Red tapeism must be a thing of the past with us. The go-come go-come attitude will not be tolerated," he said, when he administered the oaths of allegiance, office and secrecy and presented instruments of appointments to two Ministers and 10 Deputy Minister at the Castle, Osu.

They were Nana Akomea, Minister of Information and Mr. Alan Kyerematen, Minister of Trade, Industry and President's Special Initiatives (PSI).

The rest were Mr. Andrew Abambile Awuni, Deputy Minister of Information, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Patrick Ambrose Dery, Deputy Minister of Justice and Attorney General, and Dr Charles Yaw Brempong-Yeboah, MP Atiwa, Deputy Minister of Works and Housing.

The others were, Mr Ignatius Kofi Poku-Adusei, Deputy Minister of Women and Children's Affairs, Dr. (Mrs) Angela Ofori-Atta, Deputy Minister of Manpower Development and Employment, Mr Emmanuel Adjei Boye, Deputy Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr David Gyewu, Deputy Minister of Communications and Technology, Mrs Mercy Bampo Addo, Deputy Minister, Office of the President and Mr. Charles Bintin Binipom, Deputy Northern Regional Minister.

President Kufuor said it was to eliminate red tapeism that these institutions must have political leadership because the professional civil servants tend to be passive on the implementation of government policies and programmes.

He said political leaders come in to set targets and also drive the machinery to attain these targets.

President Kufuor said from the sufferings Ghanaians had been subjected to over the decades, they had become rather cynical and tend not to trust the politician.

"You are politicians, so please we must work with all the talents at our disposal to assure Ghanaians that there could be good politicians.

"After all we come from the people and we mean to serve our country with diligence and with some sincerity."

President Kufuor asked the Ministers to resolve and be determined to give of their best with the belief that the society was being built for the people and future generations.

"This is the test before us; we want to make a clean break from the chequered development of the country so far, as after 45 years of independence, we do not have much to show as a country.

"We should resolve to bring out all the good attributes people say about Ghanaians; let us use government to bring these good things out for the benefit of our people in order to continue to attract the good things of the world to our land."

President Kufuor said, being part of the government's team, the challenge ahead of them was to ensure democracy and good governance succeeded and Ghanaians felt proud of their own country.

"Let us really become the true gateway to the West Africa sub-Region in the enlightenment in good living so that our neighbours would learn from us", he added.

President Kufuor said the Ministers should be efficient in their performance of their duties and the Deputy Ministers should have respect for the Ministers of their various sectors.

He said there was no favouritism in the appointment of Ministers and their deputies, adding that the suspicion among a section of the people that because the President is an Asante he appoints only Asantes must be done away with.

"I assure you there is no favouritism, people suspect because somebody comes from Asante and I am an Asante, I am partial, no it will never happen.

We are comrades, all Ministers as far as I am concerned are on the same level as their counterparts in any part of the world"

On the relationships between the Minister, Minister of State and Deputy Ministers, President Kufuor said the Deputy Minister was a step lower than the Minister and the rank of a Minister of State is typically a British tradition they left with the people and not a creation of the government.

"We inherited it and that is a mark to show progress even among the Ministers".

President Kufuor urged the Ministers and Deputy Ministers to respect one another, work as a team driven by a common vision of lifting the country up as a team with a common purpose that would motivate the nation to move ahead in unity, tolerance and fairplay.

He warned that any Minister or Deputy Minister who might step out of bounds with the current campaign on discipline, would not be spared.

"We are talking about discipline these days, if you are the leaders and you are not disciplined, then of course an example should be made of you. So let us live within the laws of the country so that we can in turn ask the people to follow the example", he stressed.

President Kufuor said the country was taking a close look at the Ministers and the rest of the government and it should not take much of an effort or any objective observer to appreciate the sort of government being put in place to serve the country.

He said the Ministers were coming from all corners of the country, therefore, any suspicions or fears of some group that anyone was trying to impose "hegemony" over the country should be dispelled.

President Kufuor said government was bridging the generation gap and should not be described as a government of old men and women, adding, " we are trying to use some of the best people Mother Ghana could boast of and put them in the service of the country".

He said those appointed to serve in the government had distinguished themselves in their various calling and government was proud to have them to serve the people.

President Kufuor said they should not, however, feel that they were the only few pebbles at the beach of the country adding thay there were so many Ghanaians of similar achievements in their category, but because the number of Ministers and Deputies must be limited they were lucky to be appointed.

He advised them to show modesty and never allow themselves to fall into the complexity that they were so special that everybody should stand aside for them in their activities.

"I want us to be humble in this position. I want us to be imbued with the spirit of service; we are not in government as a business. I believe you all readily accepted to come and serve so we should not seek or expect the people to show any special gratitude towards us", He added.

President Kufuor said there was a lot of work to do and Ghanaians gave the government the opportunity to serve because of what they told the people, "we said we stood for good governance, democracy, respect for human rights and human beings, respected property rights. We are open minded, tolerant and these are the attributes we were going in to usher in the Golden Age of Business".

He said some people had misunderstood what he meant by the Golden Age of Business that it would exclude labour but that was never true.

President Kufuor said there could be no successful business without a blend of the entrepreneur and the worker; it was when both of them combine with a common vision, single purpose that there could be a successful business.

He said the Golden Age of Business had been the central focus of the government because it wanted to unleash the wealth of the country to provide the social services that would uplift the standard of living of the people and also put meaning to the choice of equal opportunity needed for the people.

He said that could be done with government facilitating the framework and pushing the creators to create the much-needed wealth for the country.

"This is the central to our government so wherever you are put to serve, you should always be mindful of facilitating the citizens or anyone who would come to you with the mind of genuine investment in this economy, so we create the wealth to grow our economy in our society", He added.

Mr Kyerematen on behalf of his colleagues said government had laid the foundation of a true democratic, free and just society and the platform for the transformation of the economy into a vibrant and prosperous one.

He said the Ministers and their deputies were also aware that there were a lot more to be done in translating the dividends of democracy and economic revival for the majority of the rural dwellers.

Mr Kyerematen said the oaths sworn were an expression of their unqualified commitment to support the government to realise the objectives set.

"On behalf of my colleagues, we wish to express our appreciation for the confidence reposed in us and to assure you and Ghanaians that we will serve the people with dedication, honour and integrity", he added.