In the wake of the economic instability and challenges faced with the Ghanaian economy, one would expect the country’s hard earned resources to be protected but it appears that the government of the day has paid no heed to calls for it to cut the size of its workers.
Owing to this, the Member of Parliament for the North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has described President Akufo-Addo as ‘deaf’ for his failure to downsize his government after several demands.
Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwa lauded the President for submitting the annual reports which is in consonance of the constitution to Parliament for analysis. However, he finds the report jaw-dropping especially at a time the economy continues to struggle.
“But there is a huge problem. From the content of this annual report, it is clear that our president is not listening. All the numbers have gone up. And for the first time in out country’s history, the combined staff at the presidency has exceeded a thousand. It’s never happened in our history.”
He questioned the increased number of political appointees from 13 in 1996 to 361 in 2023.
Mr. Ablakwa, who sat as a panelist on Metro TVs Good Morning Ghana programme on Friday, 31st March 2023, indicated that Ghana’s highest political appointees over time has been 70, highlighting that the Nana Akufo-Addo led administration has exponentially increased the figure.
“We have seen a massive jump by about 415 % from 2017 when this president came to power.”
Mr. Ablakwa suggested that the president seem to be obsessed with big government but does not have the necessary resources to attain it.
“So this is a president who appears to have an empirical mindset. He believes in big government. But you see, it comes at a cost.”
Meanwhile, the Office of the President has justified the rationale behind maintaining an ‘elephant size’ government despite the present predicament.
According to the presidency, it is to ensure the smooth running of government operations.
“All staff at the Office of the President, whether political appointees or civil/public servants have specific roles to play in the administration of the presidency and the government as a whole,” a statement from the Presidency noted.
The statement divulged that the number of political appointees had increased from 337 last year to 361 this year, adding to the 687 civil and public servants.
The Presidency released a press statement on March 30, 2023, providing information on the number of Presidential Staff employed at the Office of the President during the period, the ranks and grades of these staff, and employees of other Public Services assigned to the Office of the President.
The statement also revealed that during the reporting period, there were two Ministers of State and 44 Senior Presidential Staffers at post, with the number of political appointees at the Office of the President totaling 315.
This brings the number of political appointees to 361. However, the statement clarified that only 163 of these individuals work at the Jubilee House, with the rest assigned to other offices.
By Leonora Enyonam Annoh | Metrotvonline.com | Ghana
