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The former Minister for Special Development Initiatives, Mavis Hawa Koomson has been appointed as the minister-designate for Fisheries and Aquaculture.
This follows a decision by President Akufo-Addo to scrap the Ministry of Special Initiative in his second tenure in office.
The Ministry, mandated to formulate and implement specific policies, plans, and programmes aimed at eradicating poverty in Ghana, came under massive public attack when it proposed to spend an exorbitant sum of GH¢800,000 for its website development.
A further GH¢10 million was approved to purchase 20 4-wheel drives for the Minister and other officials.
Again, the Ministry with approval from Parliament spent GH¢6.5 million on office furniture.
Tasked to handle the NPP’s flagship ‘One Village One Dam’ project, the Special Initiative Ministry was constantly in the news for one thing or another, with numerous calls on the government to dissolve it.
Many argued that had the Ministry not been created in 2017, the country could have saved GH¢300 million of its budget.
However, its Sector Minister, Madam Hawa Koomson was in the news again when during the voter registration exercise in 2020, she fired gunshots into a crowd of citizens who were in the process of registering.
Defending her action, the Minister claimed she was informed of foreigners who had come from different towns to register in her constituency and felt threatened, necessitating the firing of warning shots in self-defence.
Her gun was subsequently retrieved by the Central Regional police along with its license.
Although she was trolled on social media for days for her actions, with some asking for her to be stripped of her ministerial position, any legal action against her is yet to be taken by the President.
Her appointment in this administration, therefore, has come as a surprise to many.
Madam Hawa Koomson was retained at the Member of Parliament for the Awutu Senya East Constituency in the 2020 Parlimentary elections.
She holds a diploma and a bachelor’s degree in Basic Education from the University of Education Winneba.
She has earned a masters, postgraduate diploma in public administration (CPA) and a postgraduate diploma in public administration (DPA) from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
She takes over from former Minister, Elizabeth Afoley Quaye who failed to make it on the list of appointees for Akufo-Addo’s second tenure.
She is married with three children.
