PRESIDENT MILLS SWEARS IN FIRST MINISTERS AS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 000132

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/W

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: GH KDEM PGOV PHUM PINS PREL
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT MILLS SWEARS IN FIRST MINISTERS AS
PARLIAMENT CONTINUES VETTING PROCESS

REF: ACCRA 00057


1. (U) Summary. President Mills has sworn in ten of his new
ministers, in a ceremony where he asked them to give
selflessly for the country and to avoid ostentatious
lifestyles. An additional four ministers received
parliamentary approval on February 18. Parliament continues
the process of vetting President Mills' ministerial
appointments, with others expected to receive approval in the
days ahead. Mills has already replaced his Ministry of Works
appointee, Moses Asaga, due to Asaga's involvement in a
controversial plan to award parliamentarians a substantial
end of service package. Mills' candidate for Foreign
Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, was subject to opposition
criticism for an unresolved 2004 report alleging his
involvement in the loss of state funds. Mumuni is still
expected to be sworn in, however he is one of the few
ministers not yet approved by Parliament. Mills' team
represents a balance of regional, ethnic and religious
interests, and includes a member of the People's National
Convention Party, part of a deal to obtain PNC parliamentary
support, necessary to insure NDC control of a closely
balanced parliament. The first group of Mills' appointments
were discussed in REFTEL; this cable continues with
additional brief biographies. End Summary.


2. (U) Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni.
Mumuni is a trusted confident of President Mills who was his
vice-presidential running mate during the 2004 race. Mumuni
was Minister of Employment in the Rawlings administration,
and served as an MP, and prior to that, as a judge. He is an
attorney by profession. Mumuni's vetting by parliament saw a
walkout by NPP committee members, in protest over a libel
action he initiated against a newspaper for reports it
carried about a 2004 report by the Auditor General accusing
him of loss of state funds in the operation of his ministry.
The report surfaced in 2004 when Mumuni became Mills' running
mate, several years after he left the ministry. Charges were
never brought against Mumuni, however, nor was he asked by
the previous government to explain the alleged charges.
Mumuni is a Dagomba, from the Northern Region.

3.(U) Minister of Defense Lt. General Joseph Henry Smith
(rtd.). Smith, age 63, is a retired career officer who served
as Chief of Army Staff, Commander of the Second Infantry
Brigade, Director of Military Training and commanding officer
of the Field Engineering Regiment. He was also Ghana's
Military AttachQ in Washington from 1988 to 1992. Smith is
respected by fellow officers. He and Mills are close
friends, a status that did not help the General's career
during the NPP government, where he was passed over for
assignments. He has helped Mills to nurture ties with the
military. Like Mills, he is a Fante, and was born in the
Western Region. Smith is married to an Egyptian and is a
convert to Islam.


4. (U) Minister of Finance Dr. Kwabena Duffour. A respected
economist, Duffour, age 66, was Governor of the Bank of Ghana
from 1997 to 2001. Duffour holds a B.A. in Economics from
the University of Ghana and an M.B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. from
Syracuse University, where his doctorate was in International
Finance. He has banking experience, rising from Director of
Research and Chief Economist to be Managing Director of the
Ghana Commercial Bank, a position he held from 1992-1995.
Duffour has in the past supported the Convention People's
Party, but he has been a major NDC supporter since the 2004
election. He is well connected in international financial
circles, and has a moderate, pro-business philosophy. As
head of the Bank of Ghana, the country's central bank,
Duffour was widely acknowledged to have brought stability to
the cedi. Duffour is an ethnic Ashanti, from a region that
voted heavily for the NPP during the December elections.


5. (U) Minister of Roads and Highways Joseph Gidisu. Gidisu
is a teacher by profession, but has worked for the Ghana
National Association of Teachers, a trade union. He has
served in parliament for three terms, representing a
constituency in the southern Volta Region. Roads and Highways
is a new ministry whose responsibilities previously were part
of the Ministry of Transportation.


6. (U) Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Albert
Abongo. Abongo replaces fellow Upper East Region MP Moses
Asaga, whose nomination was revoked following a public outcry
over Asaga's signing of documents authorizing end of service
financial awards to former MPs and President Kufour. Abongo
is a first term MP, age 49, and a civil engineer. By
replacing Asaga with Abongo, Mills is able to keep regional
and ethnic balance in his cabinet.

ACCRA 00000132 002 OF 002




7. (U) Minister for Youth and Sports Muntakar Mubarrak
Muhammed. Mohammed is a second term MP representing Asawase,
a Muslim majority constituency in the Ashanti city of Kumasi
and the only NDC seat in the nation's second largest city.
His appointment may be a calculated effort on the part of
Mills to reach out to Muslim youth, particularly in urban
areas, in order to maintain the substantial electoral support
this demographic provided the NDC. Mohammed has limited
administrative experience, which could affect his performance
in the job. Muhammed participated in a recent State
Department International Visitor Leadership Program for Young
Muslim leadrs. He is an ethnic Dagomba. The Ministry of
Youth and Sports is a new portfolio, merging sections
previously housed in the Employment and Education Ministries.



8. (U) Minister of Agriculture and Food Kwesi Ahwoi. Kwesi
Ahwoi is a technocrat, although one with particular influence
with President Mills, as he is one-third of the Ahwoi
brothers, a family that forms their own power block within
the NDC. The Ahwoi family is a major financial benefactor of
the party. The Ahwoi's are believed to have recommended
Mills as a potential vice presidential candidate to former
President Rawlings, something for which Mills has been
grateful ever since. Kwesi Ahwoi was director of the Ghana
Investment Promotion Center under Rawlings. He has a
background in business and economics, and in recent years has
been a consultant on privatization in Uganda. Kwesi Ahwoi is
a brother of Kwamina Ahwoi, who was a long-time Foreign
Minister under President Rawlings.


9. (U) Minister of Information Sabah Zita Okaikwei.
Okaikwei is a rising star in the NDC, although she failed to
win election in 2008 to a parliamentary seat in Greater
Accra. She is an attorney with a reputation for being an
able manager. She is an ethnic Ga, and has the support of
Accra's Ga leadership.


10. (U). Minister of Health Dr. George Sipa Yankey. Dr.
Yankey is an attorney, academic and administrator, although
he has no previous experience in health care management. He
was the Chief Executive of the Ghana Trade and Investment
Gateway Program, a government office that offered tax and
other incentives for private sector investment in Ghana.
Yankey served in government under President Rawlings; he
served time under President Kufuor, when he was jailed for
crimes "causing a financial loss to the state" following a
scandal involving a rice growing scheme. Yankey was released
by President Kufuor in 2003, and received a full pardon at
the end of 2008, allowing him to again hold high office.
There is some question as to his actual involvement in the
scheme.


11. (U) Minister of Chieftaincy and Culture Alexander
Asum-Ahensah. A teacher by profession, he is a second term MP
representing a constituency in the Brong-Ahofo region.

12, (U) Ministers at the Presidency Kalutie Alhassan and
Azong Alhassan (no relation). Kalutie Alhassan, 61, is a
newly elected member of Parliament. She is from the Upper
West Region. Azong Alhassan, 43, is also a first term MP,
from the Upper East Region. He is also a member of the
People's National Party (PNC),which draws its limited
support from northern Ghana. Mills' decision to include him
was part of a compromise to gain the support of the two PNC
MPs, necessary to ensure that the NDC was able to have the
barest control over Parliament. We have little information
about either minister. While holding the title of minister,
neither is expected to sit in the cabinet. Ministers at the
Presidency often represent the President at ceremonial
events.


13. (U) Comment. The remaining ministers should be sworn in
within the next week. Mills can now begin the consultative
process necessary as the first step toward appointing deputy
ministers. Under Ghana's constitution, the cabinet can have a
maximum of nineteen members, including the President and Vice
President, meaning that some ministers will not sit in the
cabinet. Mills has done a credible job of balancing the many
competing interests in Ghanaian politics, such as region,
religion and ethnicity, and the number of complaints about
exclusion have been relatively few. End Comment.
TEITELBAUM