The Akuffo-Addo led government has not had the best of beginnings; Presidential elections are being contested at the Supreme Court; Honorable MPs engage in a ‘dishonorable act’ upon the election of a Speaker of Parliament. Nevertheless, Ghanaians are in eager anticipation of the next ministerial appointments of the President; the next big agenda of the President.
At the end of his first tenure of office, the President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E. Nana Addo-Dankwah Akuffo Addo had appointed 125 ministers, which from the onset, he had justified as necessary to transform the fortunes of the country and accelerate national development.
“…a necessary investment to make for the rapid transformation of this country,” he said. However, he added that ministers “are coming to work, it is not going to be a holiday.”
Although well-intended, public sentiments were mixed, with a greater section of the public largely registering displeasure of such a gargantuan government size. Some sections of the public were of the wild view that, the president’s appointments of officials in the last four years was fundamentally a way of saying “thank you” to party financiers. Whilst, others were of the view that, the state of the country and its management merited that lot of ministers. Pundits also joined in the wave of debates on the issue, hinting on the drain it posed on the finances of the government.
After four years, pundits and the general public are of the view that, there is relatively nothing to show for such a huge government size. Dr. Camara Obeng, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Economic Studies of the School of Economics, UCC, expressed worry about the drain this number of appointees had on the economy during an interview with The Vaultz News:
“…over 100 ministers for one year is a lot of money that we have thrown away, most of them are not doing anything.” He added that these many ministries that were created are duplicative and clogged with so many inefficiencies at worst.
“…I pray that government will start from within itself. Government has too many presidential staffers, government pays a lot of money to people, most of whom are not doing anything.”
On the back of the economic challenges the country is faced with— to build back better from the health and economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, the public have revisited this all-essential issue. And the important question that is asked is that, will there be any justification for the president to make similarly huge appointments in his second term?
Also, the election of the Speaker of Parliament— Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin from the opposition NDC as well as the hung parliament brings another dimension to looking at the issue.
In his last State of the Nation Address (SONA), the president mentioned that there is need for cooperation among members of parliament in order to devise new ways of conducting its affairs.
“The good people of Ghana have spoken and given Parliament an almost equal strength on both sides of the House; we have no choice but to work with the consequences of the desires of the people.”
Again, if the President is seeking cooperation among members of Parliament on both sides, would it not be more welcoming for the president to set the example by appointing a few members of the opposition in its yet-to-be constituted ministerial appointment?
Besides, that would send a good signal to the opposition on the government’s willingness and readiness to cooperate and work with the opposition. Not only that, this would also place a greater task on those ministers as well as on the government to forge the development of the country.
Although, this may sound radical, it may go a long way to allay the fears of government policies and programmes not being dealt with fairly in parliament.
