A Governance Expert Dr Eric Oduro Osae is suggesting to the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to warn his nominees to desist from leaking appointments information to journalists and the public.
He explained that the situation develops unnecessary tension amongst nominees when there is changes in the original list.
A typical example is Henry Kokofu who was purported to have been appointed to head the Forestry Commission but later given to Kojo Owusu Afriyie popularly called Sir John.
Members of New Patriotic Party (NPP) have heavily been criticised for leaking appointment letters of their colleagues on social media when the President has not gone public.
Speaking on Ultimate Breakfast Show with Lantam Papanko, the Political Economist said information relating to nominations should be kept in secrecy until final decision to go public is taken.
He further suggested that guidelines are put in place by the presidency to ensure that appointment letters are properly coordinated at a source.
Dr Oduro Osae believes appointment letters should be confidentially treated saying it makes the government naked when leaked.
‘I think its gone well but they could have done better. I personally I think, there is a challenge of coordination. The earlier they resolve this coordination issue the better. I think there are a number of people who are lobbying and trying to catch the attention of the powers that be. And the party like NPP, they have a lots of technocrats and highly qualified people. And if you have an organisation like that and you don’t put your foot down, or you are not able to put guidelines in place, you will end up grossing over people who are capable of attracting the attention of the lobbyists.
The presidency should put in place systems to check coordination of appointment letters,.. at one point you see the president signing an appointment letter, another the chief of staff and the sector minister, if you find you have it like that it doesn’t promote the needed sanity, it should come from one source. One cannot squarely blame the presidency, some of the nominees out of excitement would want the whole world to know about their appointments. So I believe if the office of the presidency can even caution people, If the system is so water tight that these letters will not find their way into the media ‘ he explained.
He entreated people who have been appointed to hold their letters tight to their chests and desist from blowing their horns.
