A former secretary to the then Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), Dr. Joyce Aryee has refuted claims that she left the party after she was asked to work in another ministry– the Ministry of Local Government.
In his book, Working with Rawlings, NDC stalwart and former Local Government Minister, Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi stated that “in 1988 the Ministry of Local Government was the “Siberia” of the Ministries. Nobody wanted to be appointed as the PNDC Secretary for Local Government, because appointment to the Ministry invariably saw the exit of the appointee from the government. Besides, it was a very “dry” Ministry which was very starved of resources, but I am not sure whether it was deliberate. Indeed, Ms. Joyce Aryee had left the PNDC system on account of her having been moved from the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of Local Government, a position she refused to take up.”
But according to the former CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Mines and Executive Director for Salt and Light Ministries, Rev. Dr. Joyce Aryee, although she did not accept the appointment she did not leave the party at the time as claimed by Prof. Ahwoi.
“Kwamena knows that it is not true. I did not go and work in that ministry, but I did not leave the PNDC. He knows it, and I don’t know why he wrote it. I decided not to say anything about it, but it is not true,” she said on Eyewitness News.
Working with Rawlings was tumultuous- Joyce Aryee
Joyce Aryee during the interview also described her working experience with the late ex-president, Jerry John Rawlings as tumultuous.
According to her, “he [Rawlings] was very intense about certain things and usually thought things could happen at the snap of a finger because of his military background and often got frustrated when things didn’t go a certain way but eventually got used to not having things done his way.”
“During meetings, he never just sat still, he usually would be found writing or doodling on a piece of paper whilst listening to whoever is speaking at the meeting. He made a lot of contributions and asked questions that proved he was paying attention despite doing other things,” she added.
