| The Minister for Trade and Industry Ms. Hannah Tetteh has rekindled the controversy surrounding NDC stalwart Dr. Spio-Garbrah’s allusion that some Ministers in President Mills’ government are Team B players. In an interview with Citi FM on Monday, November 23, Ms Hannah Tetteh questioned the rationale behind Dr. Spio-Garbrah’s categorization, saying the label on President Mills’ appointees lacks merit. She said those who are too critical of the government should do that bearing in mind the challenges the NDC government met on assumption of office. A few months into the life of President John Mills’ government, the Former President Jerry Rawlings, who is also the founder of the NDC, commenting on President Mills’ choices for the various ministerial positions said some of the nominees were mediocre. In an article meant to extol the achievements of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Dr. Spio-Garbrah, himself a leading member of the NDC veered off and launched a blistering attack on the technical savvy of some of the President’s team members. He said President Mills has fielded ministers who largely made up a team ‘B’ of the human resource base of the party, whilse some team ‘A’ players were available. The statement drew prompt reactions from some key members of the administration. But in a response to former President Rawlings and his henchmen, Madam Tetteh shrewdly mentioned as many names as her memory could serve her, currently in Mills’ cabinet, and traced the role they played in Jerry Rawlings’ government in the 1990s. It was clear that her intention was to say that if they were mediocre, he wouldn’t have used them. She said, Mr. Kwabena Duffuor, Minister of Finance was appointed by then President Rawlings as Bank of Ghana Governor. Mrs. Betty Mould Iddrisu, the Attorney General “was indeed the first family’s choice of a running mate,” Mr. Kwesi Ahwoi, Minister of Agriculture was the Chief Executive of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, appointed by Jerry Rawlings. The Trades Minister continued that, “Ms. Sherry Ayittey, Minister of Environment and Science has been a close friend and confidant to the Rawlings’ for many years, also for the Minister of Local Government there is Mr. Yieleh Chireh”. Mr. Yieleh Chireh was a Regional Minister and Mr. Cletus Avoka was also a Minister in Jerry Rawlings’ government. She nonetheless said that she and Mr. Haruna Iddrisu were “new in the cabinet but have been members of the National Democratic Congress since they lost elections in 2000” “In view of the fact that many of the names that I have mentioned actually were past ministers that worked in former President Rawlings’ administration in various fields, does it imply that he also appointed a team ‘B’ or he now has a different view of a team ‘A’ administration?” she asked.
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