Minister of State for Special Initiatives, Dr Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo, says President John Dramani Mahama has tasked him with identifying policy initiatives that can respond effectively to Ghana’s development challenges.

Dr Pelpuo said his new role involves reviewing initiatives emerging from various sectors and determining which ones can be adopted, developed and aligned with the government’s Reset Agenda.

Speaking on The Pulse with Elton Brobbey on JoyNews, he said the assignment was focused on finding initiatives that could create value and deliver practical benefits to the public.

“He sent me to the Presidency in charge of his policy initiatives, enabling me to look at all the initiatives that are coming out around to see which of them respond more adequately to the Reset Agenda which we have set in motion,” he said.

Dr Pelpuo said the initiatives would be assessed based on their potential to contribute to the government's broader policy direction.

“How we can adopt those policies, work with them, create value in them, get them to be useful to the public and how they can tailor very much or tailor very well into our policy arrangements,” he said.

He said the ultimate focus was to identify initiatives capable of addressing key development concerns confronting the country.

“To address key issues about development in Ghana,” he added.

Dr Pelpuo noted that several initiatives were already available but said his responsibility was to identify those that could respond effectively to the challenges facing the country.

“There are several initiatives at the moment, but I’m bringing in initiatives that can respond well to the challenges that we are facing,” he said.

Dr Pelpuo was reassigned from the Ministry of Labour, Jobs and Employment to become Minister of State for Special Initiatives in a ministerial reshuffle announced on August 26, 2026. Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum replaced him as Minister for Labour, Employment and Job Creation.

The reassignment forms part of President Mahama's broader changes to the structure of his administration.

Dr Pelpuo has since described the new role as an opportunity to contribute to the government's Reset Agenda. In an earlier statement following the reassignment, he thanked President Mahama for retaining him in government and said he would help push the agenda to what he described as a “logical and successful conclusion.”

His latest comments provide further detail on the policy-coordination and assessment function he says has been assigned to him at the Presidency.