President John Dramani Mahama has sworn in four deputy ministers with a strong charge to serve with humility, accountability, and accessibility while strictly adhering to good governance practices.
Speaking during the ceremony on Thursday, President Mahama reminded the new appointees that public office is not an entitlement but a covenant with the people of Ghana.
“You are to serve with humility, honesty, diligence, and accountability. Ghana does not need ministers who are inaccessible, arrogant, or aloof. Ghana needs leaders who will listen, who will act, and who will deliver,” the president told the deputy ministers.
The president directed the new appointees to comply fully with the assets declaration regime and adhere strictly to the government’s travel policy as part of his administration’s commitment to transparency and fiscal discipline.
He instructed the deputy ministers to obtain a copy of the code of conduct for political appointees before leaving the Presidency, describing it as their guiding document.
“Make that code your compass. It should be your second bible or your second quran. Read it diligently, and let it guide your conscience and your conduct,” he said.
The president emphasized that the code of conduct should remind appointees that public office is a covenant with the Ghanaians, not a personal entitlement.
“Let it remind you that public office is not an entitlement, it is a covenant with the people of Ghana. The people of Ghana hold us to a higher standard than our opponents,” Mahama added.
The four deputy ministers were appointed to ministries with heavier workloads and extensive oversight responsibilities – Transport, Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Health, and Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation.
The President told the appointees that they are now custodians of the Ghanaian people’s trust and expectations, describing their roles as solemn duties rather than ceremonial positions.
He warned that Ghanaians are not interested in flowery speeches or bureaucratic excuses but want tangible results including jobs, affordable food, functional hospitals, safe roads, and quality education.
“We are measured not by the policies we draft, but by the lives that we improve,” he said.
President Mahama also instructed the deputy ministers to work as teams with their substantive ministers, noting that the constitution requires deputy ministers to assist, not undermine their ministers.
The swearing-in completes the president’s full team of 60 ministerial appointees as part of his commitment to establishing a lean, purposeful, and effective government.
The president described the appointments as part of a new era of public leadership defined not by titles and numbers but by results and integrity in serving Ghanaians.
The newly sworn-in ministers were the Deputy Minister for Transport, Dorcas Affo-Toffey, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs James Gyakye Quayson, Deputy Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Mohammed Adam Sukparu, , Deputy Minister for Health, Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
