In a move fulfilling a key campaign promise, Ghana’s new President, HE John Mahama Dramani Mahama has reduced the number of government ministries from 30 to 23.
While this decision has garnered public praise for its symbolic responsiveness, Bright Simons, Honorary Vice President of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, argued that the reduction may be more about public optics than substantive government efficiency.
Ghana’s history of ministerial structuring has often been characterized by arbitrary clustering of subsectors. Bright Simons noted that decisions about which functions to combine or separate rarely come with explanations.
“In the 2000s, the Kufuor government decided that ‘youth and sports’ belong with ‘education’. The Mills government disagreed. But the latter government felt that ‘works and housing’ somehow fit well with ‘water resources’. In all these clustering business, no government ever bothers to detail its thoughts as to justification. It is just what it is.”
Bright Simons, Honorary Vice President of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education
Bright Simons pointed out the whimsical nature of these decisions and offered his own perspective on the new configuration,
He noted that “water resources” might align better with “land and natural resources” due to overlapping concessions issues, and that “innovations” could logically pair with “science and technology.”
He also questioned the separation of “agribusiness” from Agriculture, rhetorically asking whether “pharma business” should similarly be detached from Health. “I doubt anyone cares,” he concluded, highlighting the lack of public debate or justification for such decisions.
Optics vs. Efficiency
According to the renowned policy analyst, the real motivation behind reducing the number of ministries appears to be “reading the sentiments” of the public rather than achieving lean governance.
He pointed out that Ghanaians have consistently expressed discomfort with large numbers of ministers, which many perceive as excessive and symbolic of waste.
“Being a listening government’ can have its own rewards separate from efficiency gains”, he remarked, warning that this symbolic act does not address the larger governance issues.
He asserted that actually to move in the direction of government efficiency, one must ask whether the thousands of workers in collapsed ministries would leave the government payroll or simply be redistributed.
He also added that ministries are only a small fraction of government bureaucracy.
“Would there be less spending on bureaucracy across the government as a whole following the reduction in the number of ministries? Where are the financial numbers to prove this?
“If you went back in history and compared spending on ‘office of government machinery’ before and after ‘listening governments’ cut down on the numbers of ministers, you might be surprised to see that the expense tends to increase year on year regardless.”
Bright Simons, Honorary Vice President of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education
The Real Cost Drivers: Agencies and Behemoth Ministries
Moreover, Bright Simons emphasized that most public sector workers and expenditures are concentrated in government agencies, not ministries.
He pointed out that institutions such as the Ghana Revenue Authority, the Police, and the Ghana Educational Service dwarf the administrative costs of ministries, adding that state-owned enterprises like GNPC and ECG are similarly significant in terms of financial impact.
The IMANI’s Honorary Vice President also highlighted the disparity in budget allocations among ministries.
While some like the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs receive less than $5 million annually, major ministries such as Education and Health command billions.
“Then there are the giant ministries. Health, education, Roads & Highways, and the Interior. Education gets a cool $2 billion a year, more than 20% of the total government budget in most years.
“In fact, in 2024, the budget of the Ghanaian ministry of education is twice that of the Nigerian federal ministry of education. Even if you add all public spending on education in Nigeria up, Ghana’s ministry still spends more. It is a true behemoth. The Health Ministry gets a billion dollars.”
Bright Simons, Honorary Vice President of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education
“If you really want to make major savings, reforms in health and education could eclipse the savings made from abolishing five ministries,” he argued, underscoring the need for meaningful reforms rather than cosmetic changes.
Broader Challenges and Priorities
Bright Simons further critiqued the government’s focus on ministerial perks, arguing that these are minor in the broader context of government spending.
“Ministerial perks should perhaps appear on page 17 of the memo on savings, somewhere between stationery and guest house management,” he quipped. He pointed out more significant areas for savings, including debt management, capital expenditure, and procurement reforms.
While the President’s reduction in ministries might earn goodwill, Bright Simons remains skeptical about its impact on governance efficiency.
“The work dey. Serious! But God too dey,” he concluded, emphasizing that the real challenge lies in addressing systemic inefficiencies and focusing on reforms that go beyond symbolic gestures.
READ ALSO: Trump Sentenced To “Unconditional Discharge” In Hush-Money Case
