Some tourism and hospitality industry players have expressed dissatisfaction over the omission of Madam Abla Dzifa Gomashie, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, from Cabinet.
This comes after President John Dramani Mahama, in conformity with Article 76 (1) of the 1992 Constitution, constituted his 19-Member Cabinet, on February 20, 2025.
Dr Edward Ackah Nyamike Jnr, the President of the Ghana Hotels Association, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday, said previous governments, since President John Agyekum’s Kufuor’s tenure, had made tourism ministers members of their cabinet, asking: “what has changed?”
“This has been a source of worry to me, and I am sure also a worry for some industry players, so I will wish that we receive some explanation of why the tourism ministry has been left out of cabinet.”
Dr Nyamike said tourism was influenced by almost everything, from food, roads, health, education, internet connectivity, and travel and transport, among other things.
“So, I am a bit surprised that this cabinet is still in doubt of the versatility of tourism,” he said.
“If you have a tourist deciding to come to Ghana, the tourist will think about security, accommodation, transportation, connectivity, health, water, food, almost everything, and that is why the tourism minister should be in cabinet, to be able to push that agenda, which affects every aspect of society.”
Dr Nyamike Jnr noted that being in cabinet would enable the minister to influence government decisions with regard to the other sectors and how they impacted the tourism industry.
The 1992 Constitution enjoins the President to have a Cabinet of no fewer than 10 and not more than 19 ministers.
The ministers that constitute President Mahama’s Cabinet include Finance, the Interior, Defence, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Health, Energy and Green Transition, Education, Trade Agribusiness and Industry, Lands and Natural Resources, Foreign Affairs, Food and Agriculture, and Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations.
The rest are the ministers of Roads and Highways, Environment, Science and Technology, Works, Housing and Water Resources, Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Gender, Children and Social Protection, Transport, and Labour, Jobs, and Employment.
GNA
