Demand by some New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament (MPs) for the removal of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, be relieved off his post has stoked fire, with many now calling on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to also downsize his government.
Some analysts say that merely replacing Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu Boahen will not solve the country’s economic problem but that the crisis is being caused by myriad of factors.
Consequently, a section of NPP members think downsizing the government at this time can tame the rising anger among the public over the biting rising cost of living.
Insiders say in the event the president choses to further downsize his government, he is likely to reduce drastically the number of Deputy Ministers, many of whom are MPs and actually don’t make much contribution to policy-making or execution.
The view is that it is time for the President to sacrifice his loyalty to his appointees for the common good of the country.
Several analysts have made the point that downsizing government will save the country some resources because every cedi counts.
They argue that the President should reduce the size of government as a way of signalling to Ghanaians that he is indeed serious when he says the country is in crisis.
Significantly reducing the size of government is mooted as part of the internal austerity measures needed in the midst of current economic crisis.
It is worthy to note that following persistent complaints about the big size of government in the first term, President Nana Akufo-Addo abolished seven ministries in his second term reducing the number of ministers from 126 to 80 in his second term.
These are the Ministries of Aviation, Business Development, Inner City and Zongo Development, Monitoring and Evaluation, Planning, Regional Re-organisation and Development, and Special Development Initiatives.
According to the president, the seven ministries were abolished because virtually all these special-purpose Ministries have achieved the purposes for which they were established.
President Nana Akufo-Addo stated that per the huge problems facing the country at the time, he needed more capable hands to fix them and thus did not see his government’s size in the first term as being that big.
It has been argued that some other ministries can be merged or scrapped completely.
For example, the Ministry of Railways Development can become a department under the Transport Ministry.
In the same vein, Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture can become a department under Ministry of food and Agriculture.
Some people propose that Ministries of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Sanitation and Water Resources, Parliamentary Affairs be scrapped entirely.
Others also believe that Development Authorities and some agencies can be scrapped to save resources.
Japan used to run the world’s third largest economy with 17 ministers. UK has less than 30 Ministers and the US has less than 40 ministers.
Similarly, African peers like South Africa and Senegal have less than 40 ministers.
Number of Ministers appointed by each President in 4th Republic
The number of ministers appointed by presidents in the fourth republic is; President Jerry Rawlings-82 Ministers, John Agyekum Kufour-88 ministers, President John Evans Atta Mills-75 Ministers, President John Mahama-over 90 Ministers, President Akufo-Addo-120 ministers in the first term and that has been reduced to 80.
Per the information making the rounds, the president may not scrap nor merge any of the ministries.
Rather, President Nana Akufo-Addo is likely to conduct the downsizing by sending some Deputy Ministers home especially in ministries with more than one Deputy Minister.
The NPP MPs want Mr Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu Boahen, a Minister of State at the Finance Ministry dismissed but after a meeting with President Nana Akufo-Addo it was agreed that the dismissal is put on hold till the two complete some important national assignments.
They are to continue to superintend over negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and securing a deal.
They will also complete the preparation of the 2023 Budget Statement and Economic Policy for 2023 which Ofori-Atta will present to parliament next month.
The Finance Minister will also supervise the passage of the Appropriations Bill.
