9 Committees formed for joint transition team

Six more sub-committees have been constituted under the joint transition team set up for the smooth transfer of power from the current administration to the in-coming one.

This brings to nine the total number of sub-committees formed so far.

The six new committees include finance and economy, social sector, legal and governance and infrastructure.

Addition

This is in addition to the three sub-committees that were set up at the first meeting of the team.

They are the inauguration, government machinery and presidency sub-committees.

The spokesperson on the government side of the transition team, Fatimatu Abubakar, told journalists after the team's sitting in Accra last Friday that members of the outgoing government and the in-coming administration nominated three representatives each to serve as members of a committee with one from each side serving as co-chair.

"The mandate of the committee is to the extent that they are expected to convene meetings and also take their handing over notes as submitted by ministries, departments and agencies to the administrator general so that they can go through them and then advise the substantive committee accordingly," she explained.

Civil service

She said there were other members or other persons from the civil service and the public service in general who were also required to give technical support to the committees, including outgoing ministers, to give support to the sub-committees as and when they were needed to serve.

"So, today officially all the nine committees were duly constituted and subsequently the co-chairs led by the Chief of Staff,  Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, and also Julius Debrah who is a representative of the president-elect as co-chair directed that all the handing over notes should be submitted to the respective committees for them to do their work," she emphasised.

Ms Abubakar said by Friday the subcommittees would have completed their work and come before the committees to do their submission. 

Recruitments

Speaking on the last minute recruitments and payments, she said she was surprised when she heard those comments.

"In fact, I couldn't believe my ears and I said I have to go online to check if there is any formal statement until I realised that some interviews were granted that did not reflect the meetings that were held last Wednesday.

"Let me remind you that the terms of reference of the President's transitions committee is what is established by Acts within the Acts.

It does not go beyond what the Act does not provide. So I believe that the goodwill and the commitment that the President of the republic has shown together with the President-elect, John Mahama, had shown that they want us to work together and come out with the results that are in the interest of this country," she said.

Article 57

Ms Abubakar said pursuant to Article 57 of the 1992 Constitution and the mandate granted to the President of the Republic, Nana Akufo-Addo, through the thumbs of the people of Ghana, that mandate expired at midnight of January 6, 2025.

"We are working within the budget year, we are working based on projections and expectations as early as last November... as to our expectations of how much revenue we are able to mobilise whether through taxation, financing grants and what we thought the expenditure or the government just can contain within the budget year," she said.

The government, she said, had not departed from that and as such there was no recruitment going on without due financial clearance.

Again, she said there was no contract without the requisite documentation or support or commitment from the Ministry of Finance which came by way of commencement warrants or a duly allocated budget to the respective ministry to work.

Background

President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo’s representatives on the transition team are the Chief of Staff, the Attorney - General and Ministers responsible for Finance, the Interior, Defence, Foreign Affairs, Local Government and National Security.

It also includes the Heads of the Civil Service and Local Government Service, Secretary to the Cabinet and the National Security Coordinator.

The President-elect, John Dramani Mahama, is being represented by a 10-member transition team.

They are a former Chief of Staff and Co-Chair, Julius Debrah, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, Dr Callistus Mahama, who is serving as Secretary; Dr Valerie Sawyer, Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, Mahama Ayariga, Goosie Tanoh, and Dr Edward Omane-Boamah.