Felix Kwakye explains Naa Momo Lartey’s miss out on swearing-in due to late arrival

Minister of State-designate for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu has explained the circumstances surrounding the late arrival of Naa Momo Lartey, the recently approved Minister responsible for Gender, Children and Social Protection for her swearing-in ceremony at the Jubilee House.

In an interview on TV3, Ofosu pointed out that, the criticism directed at the approved Minister was unjustified because she was dealing with a family emergency out of Accra.

He explained that President John Dramani Mahama had a packed schedule, including a trip to Ho and preparations for an important government-related business trip to Angola, Tanzania and Kenya.

Due to these commitments, the President had to rely on the Vice President to stand in for him at the SWAG Awards event.

According to him, the President had planned to swear in six ministers who had been approved by Parliament.

However, due to delays in parliamentary approvals, the decision was made to proceed with the swearing-in of the initially approved ministers.

Ofosu noted that Naa Momo Lartey had informed them of her family emergency and her efforts to make it to the ceremony despite the challenges.

“I have seen that she’s come under criticism. It is justifiably right. I understand the demand for excellence and a better way of doing things by the people of Ghana. They can demand no less from all of us. We serve at the pleasure of the Ghanaian public so they have the right to have a certain expectation of delivery from us. I must indicate that because people were not aware of the background story, the Gender Minister was treated unfairly in some ways.

“It became apparent that Parliament could not meet the deadline of approving others, so a decision had to be taken. We reached out to the six who had initially been approved and indicated that if they were close, they should come. Five of them said they were within the precincts of Parliament and would come to the Flagstaff House in about 10 minutes.”

“Naa Momo truthfully indicated that a family emergency had taken her out of Accra, and therefore it was going to be very close. We encouraged her to come nonetheless, and if she got there in time, she would be added. If for some reason, she could not make it in time, we would do it another time. So if you observe carefully, President Mahama was very specific in mentioning the names and giving them KPIs,” Ofosu stated.

He added that the President had prepared two alternative speeches to accommodate her potential absence.

Ofosu stressed that the Minister’s late arrival was not her fault and that she made a significant effort to attend the ceremony out of respect for the President.

He urged the public to consider the full context before passing judgment and assured that the Minister would be sworn in at the next available opportunity.

“It's not that she was late. I know her very well. I can vouch for her. But as I said, we respect public sentiment. If the Ghanaian public had known this, I’m sure they would have tempered their criticism. But I must plead that it is not the doing of the Minister that it happened that way.

“In fact, she could have decided not to be there at all. It was out of respect for the President that she made an effort. I think she got in two minutes after the President had started, that’s all, and she really pushed it close. But it was not her fault,” he said.

-Citinewsroom