Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid, has announced that government will appoint spokespersons for the various sub-committees of Parliament.
According to him, his Ministry, which is primarily responsible for handling government communications had been overwhelmed by some of their responsibilities.
[contextly_sidebar id=”zAlldkmrFb6g1jZQGbs1mQ3mawEkMGm8″]He believes that the appointment of the spokespersons to manage government communications on specific sectors will reduce the burden on the Minister and his deputies, and improve the flow of information from government machinery to the public.
“I toyed with the idea of us appointing people that we would designate as government spokespersons, not party communicators, along the lines of cabinet sub-committees. So what we are going to do over the next few days is to appoint a government spokesperson for each of these sub-committees. So there will be a government spokesperson on legal and governance, on infrastructure, on security and on social services,” he said at a Press soirée.
Eyebrows were raised when President Akufo-Addo appointed Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Ama Dokuaa Asiamah Adjei, and Perry Curtis Okudzeto to serve as deputies to Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid in March 2017.
Many observers felt that the appointment of three deputies to one Ministry was unnecessary given the fact that the President had already come under fire from sections of the public for the size of his government.
However, Mustapha Hamid stated that reverting back to this system, which he said was implemented during the Kufuor administration, would greatly improve the lines of communication between the government and the public and vice versa.
“Under the Kufuor administration, we had this arrangement but somehow, this year, we wanted to shelve that arrangement and see how this goes. But it still looks like we are overwhelmed and we have taken a decision to restore that arrangement that was made, so that we can open channels to accessing government and also reach you,” he stated.
“If you are not reaching the Minister or his deputy and the matter is on governance, you can talk to the spokesperson on Governance and Legal [Affairs] who also will have the authority and mettle to be able to [respond].”
This development could resurrect concerns about the size of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government which were raised after President Akufo-Addo appointed 110 persons to serve in his administration.
This number includes 20 Regional Ministers and their Deputies, 36 ministers for various sectors, four Ministers of State and 50 deputy ministers.
The current government by this number has the highest list of ministers and deputies to serve in any government since the start of the Fourth Republic.
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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana