For many the Presidency of Mr. John Agyekum Kuffour is too young for members of the general public to subject her to the microscopic scrutiny that the immediate past government received. Indeed one media institution has suggested a moratorium of some sort so that the new government can shift into gear properly.

Of course we at the Kotoko Express do not buy such arguments because they could cost us dearly and we the people of Ghana will have to count our losses once again. That is why we are craving the indulgence of His Excellency to withdraw the nomination of Mallam Ali Yusif Issah as Sports Minister designate, before we all get eggs thrown in our faces. Mr. President should Parliament approve Mallam Issah by virtue of your party's majority position in the house, his approval and reign as Sports minister will embarrass you no end.

Even before we tackle his responses at the infamous vetting last Wednesday, we must state clearly that many have not been happy about the President's choice since it was first mentioned some three weeks ago. One - because few knew of his existence and two because we had doubts about his ability to handle such a sensitive portfolio as sports. Our fears were confirmed when Mallam's curriculum vitae was laid bare last Wednesday. Simply put the man does not have an iota of managerial acumen that goes in tandem with managing the most keenly watched ministry in the country. Part of Ghana's woes in the sports arena has been because the immediate past minister for that sector had no inkling about what sports management was.

His era as a minister was more of comedy of errors than anything else. Asked once if he has achieved something for the ministry, Enoch Teye said he had bought computers and fax machines for the ministry. Those comments sounded ridiculous until Mallam took the podium last Wednesday. E.T.s comments then became child's play. Mallam was listless. Apart from having a CV that clearly disqualifies him from many delicate political positions, the Minister designate failed to answer one question correctly and coherently. No one should get confused that we are getting personal. Ghanaians have countenanced one error after the other in the sports industry over the past twenty years and the Kuffour administration should not follow the trend.

Ghana needs someone who boasts of having an accomplished administrative background to manage the ministry. We have cried for such a person for several years and because no one listened, we simply have been left behind in the modern era of sports, where sponsorship and big company support is the in-thing. Mallam may have succeeded as a clearing agent, but he should be the first to admit that he would be biting more than he can chew if he accepts the position of Sports Minister. Asked if he thought his predecessor had done well, Mallam answered that he had done his best, more or less absolving E.T. of blame as far as the mess in Ghana sports is concerned.

Answering another question, he stated that he would consult the technocrats at the Ministry to make his tenure a success. Mallam, who told you that there are technocrats at the Ministry with any ideas about modern sports development? And if there were such persons there why was their advice not imparted to your predecessor? The result of their advice is there for all to see. Presently all the lesser disciplines as they are popularly known have simply died because our ex-minister and his entire ministry had no vision. Today table tennis, which was a rising sport some few years ago has deteriorated at the national level and is almost growing into extinction.

The same can be said for tennis, basketball and handball. Athletics is a national disgrace, but all we enjoy is sending officials to major international events all in the name of fat per diem. It is the same ministry Mallam is inheriting and if he has no ideas about how he is going to infuse some breath of fresh air into the ministry, then the president has to do all Ghanaians a great favour by withdrawing his nomination. Otherwise Ghanaians may be compelled to believe this government indeed does not value sports.

We indeed have to ask the rationale behind the appointment of Mallam Yusif as a minister when his party has stated categorically that his appointment was not part of an electoral deal. If Mallam's appointment to that position was on merit, then the government has a lot of questions to answer. If it was to assuage the feelings of a minority who supported President Kuffour in diverse ways to win the elections, then his appointment may well embarrass everyone in the final analysis. We believe that we all can be saved such agony if the President intervenes. After all there is room for error even at the high office of the Presidency. Those who have ears…