A Civil Society Organisation, SEND Ghana has demanded the immediate appointment of a substantive Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection following the dismissal of Sarah Adwoa Safo.

Head of SEND Ghana, Siapha Kamara in an interview with JoyNews on Friday explained that social protection policies have been abandoned for a long time due to the absence of Sarah Adwoa Safo.

He said the absence of a substantive Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection is detrimental to the Ministry considering the current challenges facing the country in terms of social protection.

“For us, it has been long overdue. The social protection programmes over the last fifteen years or more have been left without a Minister at this very critical period when social protection programmes are experiencing slash in government support. We think it has been long overdue.

“We hope that steps will be taken immediately to have a substantive Minister because social protection needs a powerful voice in cabinet, they need a powerful voice at all levels of society at this time and the Minister is the best person to do that in government,” he stated.

President Akufo-Addo on Thursday sacked Sarah Adwoa Safo as the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection with immediate effect. 

This was contained in a press statement issued by the Presidency under the signature of the Communications Director, Eugene Arhin. 

“In accordance with Article 81(a) of the Constitution, the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has revoked the appointment of Hon. Sarah Adwoa Safo, Member of Parliament for Dome- Kwabenya, as Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, with immediate effect” a portion of the statement read.

SEND Ghana believes that the President’s action is long overdue particularly due to the long absence of Sarah Adwoa Safo.

According to Mr. Kamara, the government must prioritise issues about social protection and quickly appoint a substantive Minister to “connect with the network of Civil Society Organisations who are involved in the sector to share their views as to how we can ensure that social protection programmes are protected, they are invested in even during this hard time.”