The National Chairman of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Nana Ofori Owusu, has described the current action of the President to replace ministers and fill vacant positions as unproductive and a bane to the development of the nation.
According to him, what the PPP and the rest of the country were calling for, was a drastic reduction in the size of government and its expenditure, and not the filling of vacant positions.
The President, Mr. Owusu said, after asking citizens to burden share through policies such as a Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), among others, was also expected to show good faith to the same citizens by displaying readiness to burden share by reducing the size of his government. “The President can’t ask the people to burden share when he obviously will not amend his expenditure downwards,” he said.
The National Chairman of the PPP added that the President’s refusal to listen to public concerns and his reluctance to downsize his government by at least half, exposed him as a President who cared less about the views of those he governed. He added that it was also a signal suggesting that the President was not willing to cut expenditures amid the current economic difficulties. “Such actions by the President are an affront to the public because the President is missing out on good governance principles,” he said.
Mr. Owusu, maintained that an effective and efficient government was not contained in a large government but rather, it was about ensuring an effective public service to complement the effort of the government to deliver public goods.
He, therefore, called on the President once more, to go back to the drawing table and cut down the size of his administration by merging some ministries, removing some appointees and reducing expenditures to reflect the current economic conditions of the country.
“Maintaining a large size government at this time is counterproductive to our efforts, and the President must show leadership to restore hope in the country.”
Nana Ofori Owusu
President Akufo-Addo last Tuesday, submitted to Parliament the names of ministers and deputy ministers with changes that comprise reshuffles, elevations, replacements, new faces and the filing of vacuums created by the resignation of three ministers.
The list had Member of Parliament (MP) for Adansi Asokwa and former Deputy Minister of Energy, Kobina Tahiru Hammond, nominated for the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Abetifi MP and former Minister of State at the Presidency, Bryan Acheampong, as the Minister of Food and Agriculture, while the immediate past Director-General of the State Interests and Governance Authority Stephen Asamoah Boateng, takes over as Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs.
Others are a Deputy Minister of Energy, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam and MP for Karaga as Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance to replace Charles Adu Boahen, who resigned last year. A Deputy Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Osei Bonsu Amoah, was elevated as a Minister of State at the same Ministry while a Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry has been reassigned as a Deputy Minister of Energy to replace Dr. Adam, with the MP for Nhyiaso, Dr. Stephen Amoah as a Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry.
Scrap The Presidential Portfolios
The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has released a list that shows what he described as ‘bizarre’ portfolios that are at the seat of government.
According to the MP, who has become very notorious for revealing details about the government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as well as some state institutions, ad also saying that the list of 20 new portfolios are weird.
In a post shared on his social media handle today, the MP stated that “President Akufo-Addo has created quite some bizarre portfolios at the Presidency; considering Ghana’s current economic woes, should he be keeping these strange political appointments?”
He also indicated that these portfolios are taken from a recent presidential list submitted to parliament by the presidency. The MP demands the president to reduce these portfolios so that it is promptly able to deal with its agenda of salvaging the economy from the current challenges it is facing.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
“Isn’t it time for the president to thank them for their ‘great transformative services’ and drastically downsize so as to begin salvaging this junk economy?”
This is the list of the 20 portfolios Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa describes as ‘bizarre’ and which he wants the President to scrap:
– Youth Ambassador for Diaspora Affairs
– Policy Associate
– Chief Executive of Public Sector Reforms
– Overseer of the National Cathedral
– Church Relations Manager
– Diaspora Church Mobilization Officer
– Policy & Coordinator Analyst
– Focal Person, La Francophonie
– Technical Director, La Francophonie
– Coordinator, Special Development Initiatives Secretariat
– Director of Special Projects
– Manager if Operations & Programs
– 5 Technical Communications Assistants
– Technical Advisor, Zongo Development Authority
– 2 Technical Advisors, Special Development Initiatives Secretariat
– Technical Advisor, Political Affairs
– Presidential Staffer, NABCO
– Office Management Executive Associate
– Technical Director for the Presidential Advisor on Media
– Data Manager
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