President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has reassigned two of his Ministers.
The reassigned Ministers are Bryan Acheampong, Minister of State at the Ministry of National Security and Deputy Minister of Interior, Henry Quartey.
Mr. Acheampong will now be Minister of State at the Ministry of Interior.
Henry Quartey is now a Deputy Minister at the Ministry of National Security.
The reassignments take immediate effect according to a statement signed by Eugene Arhin, Director of Communications at the Presidency.
Mr. Acheampong’s reassignment comes months after some persons called for his dismissal after it emerged that he authorized the operation of a SWAT team for the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election which turned violent.
The team was in the area to act on intelligence to the effect that certain arms and ammunition were being stored in a warehouse within the constituency.
The five-member commission chaired by Justice Emile Short and constituted by the government in February 2019 to look into circumstances that led to the bloody by-election and make recommendations had also indicated that Mr. Acheampong was ultimately responsible for the mishap on the day of the polls hence must be reprimanded.
“The Commission recommends that Mr. Bryan Acheampong be reprimanded for his ultimate responsibility as Minister in authorizing an operation of that character and on a day of an election in a built-up area,” the report stated.
But the government in its White Paper on the report rejected the recommendation.
The government had said the Commission in the report failed to state the basis for that recommendation hence its inability to accept it.
“The Government rejects the Commission’s recommendation in paragraph 8.3.6 on page 59 of the Report on the basis that the Commission failed to establish the factual basis for the said recommendation,” the government stated in the White Paper.