Embattled Minister of Gender and Social Protection Sarah Adwoa Safo who has refused to resume work despite arriving in the country more than two weeks ago has been given a final ultimatum to report to work or be sacked from her ministerial role, sources hinted MyNewsGh.com.
Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah who was supposed to temporarily serve as caretaker Minister of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection continues to act even after Adwoa Safo’s extended leave of absence ended and she arrived in Ghana.
The Dome-Kwabenya MP has been the subject of controversy after the Minority alleged that she was absent from Parliament when the House approved the 2022 budget.
After this episode, the woes of Adwoa Safo deepened after the President banned all foreign travels for ministers and other top government officials. Sources say she had planned to sneak out again before the president announced the ban.
School Feeding feud
Adwoa Safo is aggrieved because she was ordered to reinstate Mrs Gertrude Quashigah as the National Coordinator of the Ghana School Feeding Programme after she dismissed her.
A second statement signed by Adwoa Safo indicated that the earlier dismissal of Mrs Quashigah was due to an “administrative error”. However, MyNewsGh.com sources say the reversal was strictly based on a directive by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who backs Mrs Gertrude, who is the widow of late Major Courage Quarshigah.
Adwoa Safo considered the reinstatement order an affront to her authority as Minister as her judgment was being questioned. She insists she cannot work with Mrs Quarshigah.
In an interesting twist, Mrs Quarshigah has a team lobbying for her to be considered as one of Adwoa Safo’s possible replacements should she resign or be sacked.
Madam Quashigah was officially named the National Coordinator of the School Feeding programme on December 24, 2019, taking over from Dr. Kwame Adu-Nsiah who was also fired.
She had already been serving as an acting coordinator for about a year before she was given the role officially.
Dr. Adu-Nsiah was suspended in December 2018 over allegations of corruption in the management of the school feeding programme.
However, a committee that was set up by the President to probe the issue exonerated him from any wrongdoing.
The Ghana School Feeding Programme is an initiative of the comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme Pillar 3, which seeks to enhance food security and reduce hunger in line with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (MDGs) on hunger, poverty and malnutrition.
