By Hafsa Obeng
Accra, Feb. 8, GNA – President John Dramani Mahama on Wednesday announced the nomination of Mr Yussif Issaka Jajah as the deputy minister-designate for the Tourism, Culture and Creative arts ministry.
He was among 12 other deputy ministerial nominees and comes in to replace Mr Mark Okraku Mantey, who served in that capacity for four years under the Akuffo Addo-led government.
Some industry players have expressed diverse views as to whether the sector needed a deputy minister or not and whether the deputy minister-designate would perform as expected based on his educational and professional background.
Dr Kwesi Eyison, Chief Executive Officer, Pacific Tours, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, stated that the industry definitely needed a deputy minister because of the diverse sectors needing attention for integrated operations.
He said the industry was very much event marketing driven, requiring the presence of political heads at events to give impetus as a priority industry and to promote activities.
Dr Eyison noted that the industry also required diverse stakeholder engagements on regular basis, hence the need for a deputy minister to provide support.
“The tourism, hospitality, culture and creative arts industry thrives on public private partnership collaborations both locally and internationally hence the need for a deputy minister to support the minister.”
He added that the industry was very much people driven, thrived heavily on engagements with people, movements of people and travels locally and internationally for tourism activities so the deputy minister would support.
He added that the nomination of a man, was a good gender balance, with the substantive minister being a female. “It is a good gender balance, with the minister a female and her deputy, a male. It is equal to diversity, equity and inclusion.”
On the other hand, Mr Emmanuel Frimpong, Tourism Consultant and Analyst noted that he was not expecting a deputy minister for the sector, especially because the President wanted a lean government.
He said over the years the impact of deputy tourism ministers had not been really felt, so the appointment of an industry person would have been probably helpful.
“With tourism, it is not about where you are coming from, it is about the passion and understanding of the person coming in. The sector is very complex, so we need someone who understands it and is totally committed to it.”
Mr Jajah is a three-time Member of Parliament for the Ayawaso North Constituency. He holds an MBA in International Oil and Gas Management from the University of Dundee in Scotland, UK, in 2011, and a BSc in Accounting from the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), in 2009.
He also holds an MPHil in Development Finance, and MSc in Energy Economics from GIMPA, and a certificate from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ghana.
Prior to venturing into politics, he was a research fellow at the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralization in Accra from 2013 to 2016 and worked as a consultant in the oil and gas sector between 2011 and 2012, collaborating with MDPI and Goodwill International.
GNA