But even before Akufo-Addo crosses that period, the Center for Democratic Development, CDD-Ghana, has registered its displeasure with some decisions taken by government.

CDD Ghana in a statement released on Wednesday, although commended government for speedily assembling its team in real time, it was not happy with the number of ministers the President appointed.

[contextly_sidebar id=”BPcRFbnEHB9ZfMmVbKqYhkTKMQXE3own”]According to CDD Ghana, the 110 ministers assembled by the President will put pressure on the public purse.

“CDD-Ghana feels badly disappointed by president Akufo-Addo’s decision to appoint 110 ministers. It flies in the face of the president’s own declared commitment to protect the public purse as well as its longstanding good governance advocates’ campaign for meaningful reduction in the size of government and resultant government spending. We believe that the appointments of so many politicians to manage the state bureaucracy will further deepen its politicisation and undermine its authority,” statement added.

CDD-Ghana was also not happy with government’s seeming silence on attacks perpetrated by some vigilante groups affiliated to the NPP, namely Delta Forces and Invincible forces.

“First, the many instances of NPP-affiliated vigilante groups’ forceful takeover of state assets and public facilities (including toilets, toll booths, school feeding programs, etc.) and the unlawful seizure of vehicles of members of the previous administration put a dent on the hitherto smooth transition process. Worse still, the failure of government, and law enforcement agencies to deal decisively with the NPP-affiliated vigilante groups, mainly the Delta and Invincible Forces, that invaded sensitive government installations such as the passport office and Tema Ports and Harbor, appears to have encouraged the recent brazen attacks on the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator and a Circuit Court in Kumasi, by the so-called Delta Force.”

CDD-Ghana further chastised government for hurriedly sacking Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives as well as heads of some state agencies.

It added that, such practices are inconsistent with good corporate governance practices.

“We are also disturbed by the continuity in practice after electoral turn-overs whereby the chief executive officers and senior managers of public agencies and parastatals are summarily removed or asked to ‘proceed on leave,’ and to handover to a caretaker officer/acting CEO. Such actions are inconsistent with good corporate governance practices, it fosters politicization of the public service as well as political exclusion, and undermines the fight against winner takes all politics. The Center deems the interpretation of who is a political appointee under Section 14 (6) in the Presidential Transition Act 2012 too broad and badly in need of review informed by best practice,” the statement added.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The approval of the nominees, who would soon be sworn-in, forms the last batch of deputy ministers to complete appointments of ministers and their deputies in President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo’s 110- member Executive.

[contextly_sidebar id=”GViBmI9VuJ2x3H3MmyNdFqKNtGKLCLqf”]The ministers are: Mr Paul Essien- Deputy Minister Designate for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Madam Tina Gifty Naa Ayeley Mensah- Deputy Minister Designate for Health, Dr Ziblim Iddi- Deputy Minister Designate for Tourism, Creative Arts and Culture, Mr Augustine- Collins Ntim- Deputy Minister Designate for Local Government and Rural Development and Mr Martin Adjei- Mensah Korsah- Deputy Minister Designate for Regional Reorganisation

The rest are: Mr William Agyemang Quaitoo- Deputy Minister Designate for Agriculture, Mrs Gifty Twum Ampofo- Deputy Minister Designate for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Mr Pius Enam Hadzide- Deputy Minister Designate for Youth and Sports, Mr William Kwasi Sabi- Deputy Minister Designate for Monitoring and Evaluation, Ms Freda Prempeh- Deputy Minister Designate for Works and Housing, Wireko Brobby- Deputy Minister Designate for Employment and Social Welfare, Mr Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah- Deputy Minister Designate for Trade and Industry and Mr Franklin Kingsley Ato Cudjoe- Deputy Minister Designate for Fisheries and Agriculture.

The others include: Mr Andy Kwame Appiah-Kubi- Deputy Minister designate for Railway Development, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum-Deputy Minister designate for Education, Mr Eugene Antwi- Deputy Minister Designate for Works and Housing, Mrs Barbara Oteng-Gyasi-Deputy Minister Designate for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Kwasi Adjei Boateng- Deputy Minister Designate for Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Vincent Sowah Odotei- Deputy Minister Designate for Communications, Mr Patrick Yaw Boamah- Deputy Minister Designate for Water Resources and Sanitation, Major Derek Oduro (Rtd)- Deputy Minister Designate for Defence and Dr Sagri Bambangi-Deputy Minister Designate for Agriculture

The list includes: Mr George Oduro-Deputy Minister Designate for Agriculture, Mr Charles Owiredu-Deputy Minister Designate for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah- Deputy Minister Designate for Information and Nana Ama Dokua Asiamah-Adjei, Deputy Minister Designate for information.

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Source: GNA

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They were screened by Parliament’s Appointments Committee last week, and approved by consensus by both the Majority and Minority members on the committee.

The Deputy Ministers are however expected to be sworn into office by the President.

Below is the full list of the deputy regional minister nominees:

Upper East Region – Frank Fuseini Adongo  (MP)

Upper West Region – Amidu Ishaq

Northern Region – Solomon Namliit Boar (MP)

Brong Ahafo Region – Evans Opoku

Ashanti Region – Elizabeth Agyeman

Western Region  -Eugenia Gifty Kusi

Eastern Region – Joseph Tetteh (MP)

Central Region – Thomas Agyei Baffour

Greater Accra Region – Elizabeth Kwatsoo Tetteh Sackey

Volta Region – Maxwell Blagogee

50 deputy ministers

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has so far named a total of 110 ministers with 50 of them being deputy ministers.

The number of ministers was met with an uproar from a section of Ghanaians who believe the ministers were too many for the small Ghanaian economy.

Other Deputy ministers to be vetted soon

Meanwhile, the Appointments Committee is expected to screen the rest of 50 deputies for sector ministries in the coming days.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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To say the latest decision is inappropriate will be an understatement. It is highly disappointing and a non-starter for a President who came on the back of zero tolerance for corruption, open governance and transformation of leadership to bow to pressure of pleasing cronies.

That the President has power to appoint members of the Cabinet is not in doubt -there has been a long-held debate about decoupling the executive from the legislature, thus minimizing the risks associated with having the same people making the law wielding power to execute them. However, such power should not be abused on the guise of rewarding party adherents.

To begin with, no one is disputing the fact that the President has appointed some of the most competent men and women to serve as Ministers. This also could be looked at subjectively on a case by case basis. President Nana Addo’s decision to balloon his cabinet has been defended by none other than himself.

The Head of state argued that Ghana was facing huge problems and he needed a huge team to fix them. And the President’s Minister for Information , Mustapha Hamid appears to be taking cue from his boss.

The Minister reportedly said the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) “never promised a lean government” during the 2016 electioneering campaign, but the then candidate Nana Addo promised to protect the public purse and offer value for money.

This is a mediocre and cheap way of defending the country’s largest cabinet since independence. Even if Ghanaians had no problem with the size of the Cabinet, President Nana Addo could have done better by sticking with the competent men and women rather than picking people who are clueless about the specific Ministries they have been appointed to serve under.

The President’s decision to go by that huge number is largely viewed as succumbing to pressure of putting the party’s interest first, while ignoring the essence of competence in the selection process.

Is Ghana financially stable to support this intervention?

Ministers of State and Regional Ministers who are Members of Parliament will be paid GHC 15,967 cedis while Ministers of State who are not MPs will be paid GHC 15, 739 cedis. Also, Regional Ministers who are not MPs will take home GHC 15,511.

Deputy Ministers who are MPs will take home GHC 14,826 cedis while non MPs will receive GHC 14, 369. Deputy Regional Ministers who are MPs will be paid GHC 14,598 monthly, while non MPs will be paid GHC 14, 142.

This means government will spend over 1.6 million cedis monthly and over 20 million cedis annually on the 110 Ministers – a huge burden on the already struggling public purse. And the argument of government sizing down the number as time goes on is not tangible enough. If government will eventually take such a decision by dismissing ‘incompetent’ Ministers why not select the few competent ones to serve right away?

Gratuitous cloning

There are three ministries responsible for the Agric sector alone; Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture, and then the Minister of State at the Ministry of Agriculture. All these could effectively have been sub-sectors under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

The creation of a National Security Ministry undermines the efficacy of the National Security Secretariat which can equally operate at such levels without a separate ministry for it. Does this Security Ministry in any way perform duties essentially separate from the Ministries of Defence and Interior?

The Ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation is another portfolio whose actual relevance most Ghanaians are grappling to decipher. Every ministry has a monitoring and evaluation unit. Must a separate ministry be created for supposed oversight responsibility?

Then we have the Ministries of Regional Reorganization and Development, Special Development Initiative, Minister of Inner cities and Zongo Development and the Minister of Business Development whose function most Ghanaians believe is already being handled by the various Business ,Investments and Promotions governmental bodies in the country.

Some believe Aviation could fall under the Ministry of Transport, while others hold the view it is a specialized field and deserves its own ministry.

Is it all about quantity?

Other countries largely viewed as the super powers, including the United States, have even bought into the idea of choosing quality over quantity. The US, which is economically and financially more stable, as compared to Ghana has approximately 46 Ministers.

India, a country with a population of about 1.3 billion has 75 Ministers. So where lies the proof that a larger ministerial team will ensure efficiency? We expect the President to cut down on the numbers and focus on quality than quantity.

The President needs to learn from the century old African adage that says, “it is not the size of the dog in the fight that matters but rather the size of the fight in the do.” Kenya and Tanzania’s Presidents, Uhuru Kenyatta and John Magafuli respectively, present lessons on how to run a lean government.

In Kenya, the size of the cabinet is constitutionally capped to not fewer than fourteen and not more than twenty-two excluding the President, Deputy President and the Attorney General.

On the other hand, whereas the Tanzanian Constitution does not limit on the size of the cabinet, President Magufuli deliberately demonstrated “change” by significantly downsizing the size of his government. In light of the fact that the huge cabinet size will have huge financial repercussions on the struggling economy, besides the inevitable duplication of roles, the President should save both Ghanaians and the bleeding economy by rescinding this decision with immediate effect.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana, [email protected]
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post Marian Ansah writes: Ministerial appointments; real duties or mere rewards? appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, the best way to evaluate the Akufo-Addo government is on the basis of how they deliver on their promises and not on the size of the government.

[contextly_sidebar id=”CK1sPxUiIwblrij0uCWECmKndmY3kkrI”]According to him, even though the size of the ministerial appointments is huge, the end will justify such appointments.

“I know at the end of the day, the end will justify the inclusion,” the Suame MP stated on the floor of parliament.

He further urged the Appointments Committee to work expeditiously during the vetting.

“Having said that, Mr. Speaker, I chose my words advisedly. I will urge the Appointments Committee to work expeditiously.”

President Akufo-Addo on recently nominated 50 deputies and 4 others to serve as Ministers of State at the presidency and ministries, bringing his total number of ministers to 110, the highest in Ghana’s Fourth Republic.

The President has since come under intense criticism since the appointment. While some have argued that the decision will lead to bureaucracy, others believe that it will only worsen corruption.

But the President on Friday defended his decision, saying the unprecedented problems confronting Ghana demand a large government.

“I don’t believe that my government in the Fourth Republic has big numbers in view of the swollen challenges,” the President said in an interview with the Daily Graphic and Ghana Television.”

The President reiterated that the initial justification from that the weak nature of the economy required a competent army.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post Evaluate Akufo-Addo on delivery not gov’t size – Mensah-Bonsu appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, the two will play separate important roles in his government, and so do not represent the creation of a parallel civil service as asserted by some Ghanaians.

[contextly_sidebar id=”p6YB97wXzI89ZkKlERQu984hQSxhlI2X”]Nana Akufo-Addo has in the last few days come under public criticism for appointing a total of 110 ministers for his government- the largest in Ghana’s history.

He has also been accused of creating a ‘parallel civil service’ by his appointment of ministers in charge of specific activities already handled by some state departments and agencies.

After naming the deputy majority leader and member of parliament for Dome-Kwabenya constituency, Adwoa Sarfo as a Minister of State at the Presidency in charge of Public Procurement, some civil society groups have suggested that the role will be in conflict with the undertakings of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA).

But in an interview with GTV and the Daily Graphic, President Akufo-Addo said they will serve separate roles.

He added that the creation of the ministerial portfolio was necessary because of the country’s “traumatic experience” with public procurement over the last few years.

“For the purpose of where we are now in Ghana, where we’ve gone through a traumatic experience with public procurement, it is necessary for us to focus on it as an area of special concerns. The minister is not coming to take over the job of the public procurement authority,” Akufo-Addo said.

He explained that the minister will help him understand and take decisions on public procurement contracts.

“I wanted a minister here, somebody familiar with the process of public procurement whose duty will be to keep me fully engaged all the time on what is going on. And therefore being able at any stage to alert me if she sees there is something not aright in that system,” the president said.

Akufo-Addo has also justified the need for him to appoint 110 ministers to serve in his government.

According to him, the prevailing economic situation of the country required that he assembled the best brains he had to help him govern the country.

He has further rubbished arguments that the large size of his government will affect the public purse, hence defeating his pre-election pledge to protect the public purse.

He said most of his ministers who have been drawn from parliament will receive just a little more than they would have earned as parliamentarians hence the cost impact on the national coffers will only be marginal.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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Various organisations and groups have criticized the President for taking such a decision which they believe will among other things burden the public purse and also worsen corruption.

[contextly_sidebar id=”S2HpYGVqSsn3HU8wR7JHsiw2l4cUXFTZ”]Speaking on the Point Blank segment of Eyewitness News, Mr. Avedzi questioned the rationale behind some of the President Nana Addo’s appointments.

Citing examples to support his argument, he questioned why the President appointed four persons just for the Ministry of Information

“Do we need four Ministers at the Ministry of Information? What are they going to do?What are the job contents?What is the end result?How will the four Ministers at the Ministry of Information impart on the welfare of Ghanaians ….?”

Asked whether it was wrong for the President to appoint four persons for the Information Ministry since they will be performing specific roles, he said:  “ If that is the argument to go by, then he might need more Ministers for the Ministry of Information. It means he might need a Minister for Whatsapp who will be monitoring the Whatsapp page, he needs a Minister for Facebook, he needs a Minister Twitter. I don’t think he needs four Ministers at the Ministry of Information. There is going to be redundancy. They will not do anything. They will use our salaries to pay them and that is just too much.”

He wondered whether the President took into consideration the huge burden his decision will  have on the public purse before resorting to such a move.

“Let’s take the number of  Ministers and let’s analyse them one after the other. The Ministry of Information, which has a substantive Minister and three Deputy Ministers …These Ministers are going to rely on the scanty resources of this nation. These Ministers are going to be provided with accommodation, these Ministers are going to rely on state resources to perform their roles. These Ministers are going to be provided with office accommodation.”

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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This promise comes at a time when Ghanaians are questioning the President’s commitment to cut down on excessive spending after appointing some 110 ministers to serve in his government.

[contextly_sidebar id=”JcVZqkMRojNEHakuJDcxnZW1V60bo9IO”]But speaking to Abdul Moomen of GTV, the President said government had already kick-started processes, including a directive for Ministers to declare their assets to check profligacy.

“We want a situation where political office holders are the first to recognize that they serve the public interest not their own personal interest. I have said it time again that those of my party in adherence, like-minded people, who think that coming into the public sector is going to be an avenue for making money are going to be disappointed. To the extent that my eyes and ears can see what is going to happen, I am not going to allow it to happen. For instance, as we sit today, in the record time, all the first appointments that I made have all declared their assets, all 36 Ministers have all declared and filed their assets with the Auditor General.”

“It is part of the process of reassuring the Ghanaian people of the commitments that we made to protect the public purse. The commitments that we made to ensure that we live with the political system that minimizes corruption which has really ravaged our country and brought us to this low level of economic decline, there is going to be a systematic attempt to deal with it.”

I need men for unprecedented challenges – Nana Addo

In response to the criticism over the size of his government, the President said the unprecedented problems confronting Ghana demand a large government, hence his decision.

“I don’t believe that my government in the Fourth Republic has big numbers in view of the swollen challenges,” the President said in an interview with the Daily Graphic and Ghana Television.

In President Akufo-Addo’s view, the end will justify the means, as he assured that his government was going to work for the people.

“We have a problem, and what is the best way? It is better to have men and women capable of serving the nation’s interests and to work to grow the economy… If I succeed, you will soon find out the brouhaha is nothing compared to the success.”

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By: Marian  Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post I’ll protect the public purse – Nana Addo reiterates appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

“…If you need more hands to ensure that we are protecting bigger money, you might do so because it’s better,” he argued.

His comment comes after the backlash against the President for appointing 54 more substantive and deputy ministers on Wednesday, bringing the total number to 110.

[contextly_sidebar id=”vXP0JulGhZ3O9odPWgUmpHsQerMmJkLp”]Critics of the government including the opposition National Democratic Congress and the People’s National Convention, have argued that it is sheer waste of resources especially when the government says the country is almost broke.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, Mustapha Hamid stressed the end result is what matters.

“We all agree that we ought to find ways of protecting the public purse and everybody agrees that in Africa the biggest problem that we face as a continent is not because we don’t have resources, often times it’s because of corruption. We lose a lot of money to corruption. And we all agree again that the biggest spot of our loss of money is through dubious procurement practices.”

Mr. Hamid further explained that, due to the absence of a Procurement Minister in previous times, there were a number of ministers of state who force the Procurement Authority into acceding to their demands hence causing the nation to “lose billions of cedis in contracts.”

He also defended the new deputy ministerial appointments to the Attorney General’s department.

“If you have two ministers at the Attorney General’s department who would sign off monies like we signed for people like Woyome, versus having three ministers who would have a better scrutiny. Look at all the 43 power purchase agreements that we have said that we are having to review. So if you need more hands to ensure that we are protecting bigger money, you might do because it’s better,” the minister added.

Justification for 110 ministers ‘senseless’ – Asiedu Nketia

Meanwhile, the General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has described as senseless the justification of President Akufo-Addo’s 110 ministerial appointments.

“…The argument that the economy is so destroyed that they need a bigger team to do work also doesn’t make sense,” he added.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post More ministers will protect state coffers – Mustapha Hamid appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He however said the President believes he needs the numbers to honor the numerous promises he made to Ghanaians in the run up to the 2016 elections.

He suggested that the President must be given the benefit of doubt, and be judged by the outcome of his governance.

[contextly_sidebar id=”1tHzdcyStpFHwUQ3MeyE1XNhuydBK8xz”]The President, Nana Akufo-Addo, has come under heavy criticism after appointing more than one hundred (100) ministers to serve in his government; a move some electorates describe as betrayal of trust following pre-election assurances that he [Akufo-Addo] will ensure a prudent and efficient government.

But according to Nana Akomea, there will be no concerns if the president duly delivers on his promises regardless of the numbers.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, March 16, 2017, Nana Akomea admitted that, the size of the Akufo-Addo government, is the highest in the country’s history, but added that, his mandate and promises to Ghanaians were also the boldest and revolutionary.

Read his post below:

It will be recalled that Mr. Akomea in March 2013 criticized the then government, led by John Mahama for its many ministerial appointments.

He said he was “horribly disappointed” in John Mahama for appointing 86 ministers and deputies then, to serve in his government.

But it appears Mr. Akomea has relaxed his stance on the size of government after his party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) broke the existing record of 93 ministers by the NPP’s John Agyekum Kufour.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post Concerns over Akufo-Addo’s 110 ministers legitimate – Akomea appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.