Ghanaian New President Names 12 Cabinet MinistersNewly-elected Ghanaian President John Agyekum Kufuor has named 12 members of parliament to his cabinet, according to Ghana News Agency.Kufuor, who was inaugurated last Sunday in the capital Accra, Wednesday night named his brother Kwame Addo-Kufuor, a medical practitioner, as Defense Minister. In the meantime, Yaw Osafo Maafo, former opposition spokesman for the Ministry of Trade and Industry, was named as Finance Minister and Hackman Owusu-Agyeman as Foreign Minister. Other cabinet ministers named are Kofi Apraku as Minister of Trade and Industry; Courage Quashiegah as Minister of Agriculture; Kwaku Afriyie as Minister of Lands and Forestry and Dominic Fobih as Minister of Science, Technology and Environment. As indicated in his inaugural address last Sunday, Kufuor introduced a new ministry of women's affairs to be occupied by Gladys Asmah, an industrialist. Majority Leader in Parliament Joseph Henry Mensah has been assigned to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. On Tuesday, Kufuor named Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, a chartered accountant, as Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, and Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, his former campaign manager as Chief of Staff, a non-ministerial but essential portfolio of the government. Ghana's laws stipulate that the majority of the ministers should be members of parliament and all ministerial nominees need the approval of the parliament. |
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