President Nana Akufo-Addo’s removal of Ms Otiko Afisa Djaba from the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Protection was unjust, the ex-minister’s blood sister, Mrs Joyce Bawa Mogtari, has condemned.
Ms Djaba turned down her appointment by President Akufo-Addo as Ghana’s Ambassador to Italy in his maiden reshuffle in August 2018.

In an interview with the state-owned Daily Graphic last year, Ms Djaba said: “At 56 years, I want to relax and enjoy my family and life and, therefore, I am not ready to take up the appointment as Ambassador to Italy”.

Explaining further, she said she was bowing out of politics to take care of her ex-husband who has had stroke for the past six years.

“I am the one who has been taking care of him since he got sick and I cannot abandon him now,” she stated.

Speaking on her sister’s reshuffling by President Akufo-Addo, Mrs Bawa Mogtari, who is an aide to former President John Mahama, with whom Ms Djaba is also related, said: “I actually feel it was great injustice because I do know the sacrifice [and] the level of commitment that she put into that job, the extent she went to serve the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and I will always say that irrespective of whatever their reason for reshuffling is, I think that was a great travesty of political justice”.
“I don’t want to proffer reasons for what qualifications President Akufo-Addo felt he needed; that is beyond my being, but I do think when a woman has worked as hard as she did, has sacrificed as much or even more to bring your party to power, I think some level of respect, some modicum of respect is required”, Mrs Mogtari told Felicity Naana Nelson on Class91.3FM’s Straight Talk on Thursday, 21 November 2019.

Watch the full interview below: