Reshuffle Is For National Cohesion - Mahama Ayariga

Minister of Information and Media Relations, Mahama Ayariga has opined that President John Dramani Mahama�s recent reshuffle is to maintain national cohesion. President John Dramani Mahama on Monday announced the first reshuffle of his government. A statement signed by Executive Secretary to the President, Raymond Atuguba, indicated that the reshuffle was necessitated by, among others, the President�s aim to have Regional Ministers focus mainly on the political and technical coordination of the development efforts of MMDAs. However, this move has been welcomed amidst a lot controversy and criticism. Others feel the President is indecisive, while some are of the opinion that �President Mahama is confused and so cannot run the nation�. Refuting these claims in an interview on Peace FM�s Morning Show �Kokrokoo� with host Kwami Sefa-Kayi, Mahama Ayariga said the President �knows what he is doing, he has the prerogative to reshuffle at any time; at his pleasure but to achieve specific leadership objectives�. He indicated that the reshuffle is not to promote ethnicity or regionalism. On the contrary, it is for the regional ministers to focus on achieving the assignments given to them by the President. According to him, because the regional ministers are not used to the area in which they are being taken to, they will have an open heart and mind to deal with the people in the region without any political ties. �He wants to promote national cohesion; we believe that this is one very important move that will send the signal that we are one people. When we send a minister to a region which is not his origin, to manage, more often, that person do not come under the kind of intense political or personalised pressure that people in their own region tend to come under. It makes them focused and able to achieve the benchmark that the President may have set for them.. "We know exactly what to do and that is what we have done...it is not their (regional ministers) plan that is important. The most important plan is that of the President. So there is no issue like ministers having presented their plans and it has been changed by the President. You can be sent anywhere to implement the plan as envisioned by the president,� he admitted.