Antwi-Boasiako Sekyere, the outgoing Eastern Regional Minister who was fired by President John Mahama in the recent reshuffle, has officially handed over the administration of the region to his deputy, Mavis Ama Frimpong.
The ceremony took place in the presence of the 26 MMDCEs in the region at the Regional Coordinating Council in Koforidua, the regional capital, yesterday.
Antwi-Boasiako Sekyere, who was the Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, was appointed as the Regional Minister to replace the current Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, then Regional Minister.
His removal from office was instigated by the Regional Secretariat of the NDC with the aim of achieving the agenda 50-50 project. It appears the president thinks that Mr Antwi-Boasiako Sekyere can’t execute this project but his deputy, now the substantive minister, can achieve it in the upcoming November polls to secure more votes for the party in the region.
Also, Mr Antwi-Boasiako Sekyere’s dismissal, as gathered, might have been due to the demand of the 33 constituency chairmen of the NDC in the region that he be fired after he attacked with pepper spray, some party executives who stormed the Mpraeso District Chief Executive, Joseph Omari’s office.
Meanwhile, there is division in the regional branch of the party ahead of the president’s appointment of someone to fill the Deputy Minister position.
The regional executives are lobbying for one candidate of their choice while another group, made up of the party’s grassroot members and sympathisers, are rooting for another candidate.
Appau Haruna Wiredu, the Eastern Regional Youth Organiser, who doubles as the New Juaben North parliamentary candidate, Ransford Owusu Boakye, the Regional NADMO Coordinator, who also doubles as the Regional Organiser of the NDC, and the Regional Secretary, Mark Oliver Kevor, according to a reliable source within the NDC, have been shortlisted for the position.
Information gathered within the regional party caucus indicates that Mr Owusu Boakye stands tall among the three and is likely to become the next deputy regional minister.
President Mahama last week swore in Mavis Ama Frimpong as the Eastern Regional Minister.
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