It’s annoying when we are not consulted in appointments process - Minister

The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah has described as annoying failure by leadership of government not consulting regional ministers and key people in the appointments process.

The livid Minister said problems are placed on the doorsteps of regional ministers who were not involved in the selection of the appointments process.

According to him, those who make the decisions in Accra go to sleep when a problem raises its ugly head in the regions.

Some serial callers and organisers of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) yesterday July 27, 2017, stormed the Metro Mass Transit terminal in Kumasi to prevent the newly appointed Ashanti regional depot director Nicholas Oduro from working.

They argued that Daniel Agyenim Boateng also has appointment letter and that they will not allow Mr Oduro to take over his position.

But speaking with Kwame Adinkra on Abusua FM’S Abusua Nkommo, he suggested to decision makers to consult regional, deputies ministers and top executives in the region before appointing people to head agencies.

He questioned why regional ministers are not in the know when appointments are made forgetting that the appointees will work under them (regional ministers).

‘The disheartening thing in all of these is they don’t involve some of us in the appointment process. The most annoying thing is that you being the regional minister, you are not involved in the process. They just give letters to the appointees without recourse to consultations with the appropriate stakeholders in the region. Those people who make the appointments don’t get involved in the problem-solving. Why must this be so, and when there is a fracas, those of us who were not consulted will be solving the issue,’ he fumed.

Mr Osei Mensah bemoaned the activities of the vigilante groups saying it makes their work difficult.

He called on the two aggrieved parties to call their ‘boys’ to order warning that they shouldn’t dare beg him to be released from police cells if they are arrested by the police regional command.

‘I have told the two parties involved not to step foot at MMT office, they should also warn their supporters to do same, if they don’t listen to advice and they are arrested, nobody should call me to plead on their behalf,’ he warned.

The regional minister assured that measures have been put in place to resolve the issue whiles the police guard the terminal.