The pressure group in a statement indicated that, the President’s appointment of what critics have described as “elephant-sized”cabinet will only lead to corruption.

[contextly_sidebar id=”AOQxbDanKhlcr9r6ENCW8TBjiXEBTImX”]It argued that President Nana Addo’s promise to protect the public purse will not be possible with this huge number of ministers .

“The problems that beset this nation are known to all. Paramount among them is the issue of corruption. In creating such a huge bureaucracy, have we not increased the chances of corrupt officials plundering the little that we have left as a nation?In his inaugural address, the President promised to protect the national purse. The appointment of 110 ministers who, in comparison to the average Ghanaian, will be earning a considerable amount of money in salaries, allowances and benefits over the next 4 years (in addition to enjoying a range of ex-gratia benefits when they leave office) does not sound to us like a diligent attempt to protect a sorely-depleted purse.”

The group further intimated that, the appointment will hinder growth of the private business sector.

“The economy of this great nation can only grow if we let the private sector flourish. Large bureaucracies are not known to facilitate the growth of any private business sector. Do we not run the risk of crowding out and suffocating a struggling private sector with a gargantuan government bureaucracy?”

The group therefore called on the President to “reconsider” the appointment.

Below is the statement from the group

We therefore call on the President to reconsider the size of his ministerial appointments. Are there positions that may be consolidated? Do the ministers with several deputies really need that very many? Do we still need deputy regional ministers when there are district, municipal and metropolitan chief executives?
March 17, 2017

OCCUPYGHANA® PRESS STATEMENT

OCCUPYGHANA® QUESTIONS THE SIZE OF THE EXECUTIVE AND DEMANDS STRICT PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Like a great number of Ghanaians, we at OCCUPYGHANA® look with great concern at the number of ministerial appointments that the President has made to date. As of 16 March 2017, there were 110 ministerial appointments.
We are aware of the plans of the new administration to enact significant changes to the way the business of government is done, in enacting its vision to help this nation develop. We are also aware that some of these changes require the requisite manpower to achieve success.

We are however concerned at the apparent overlap in the portfolios of a number of ministers, and at the number of deputies named for several ministries.

It is our firm view that a government bureaucracy must be big enough to achieve the aims of the governing administration, yet lean enough to not waste the resources of state. Both the President in his State of the Nation Address, and the Minister of Finance in his budget presentation, lamented the dire state of the nation’s economy. Can Ghana with its present economic situation afford 110 ministers? Can we not do more with less?

The problems that beset this nation are known to all. Paramount among them is the issue of corruption. In creating such a huge bureaucracy, have we not increased the chances of corrupt officials plundering the little that we have left as a nation?
In his inaugural address, the President promised to protect the national purse. The appointment of 110 ministers who, in comparison to the average Ghanaian, will be earning a considerable amount of money in salaries, allowances and benefits over the next 4 years (in addition to enjoying a range of ex-gratia benefits when they leave office) does not sound to us like a diligent attempt to protect a sorely-depleted purse.
The economy of this great nation can only grow if we let the private sector flourish. Large bureaucracies are not known to facilitate the growth of any private business sector. Do we not run the risk of crowding out and suffocating a struggling private sector with a gargantuan government bureaucracy?

We therefore call on the President to reconsider the size of his ministerial appointments. Are there positions that may be consolidated? Do the ministers with several deputies really need that very many? Do we still need deputy regional ministers when there are district, municipal and metropolitan chief executives?

Additionally, as part of the Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation’s duties, a set of key performance indicators (“KPIs”) should be urgently developed for each ministerial position, published on the ministerial website, and assessed by the President, Vice President and Minister for M&E on an annual or preferably biannual basis. Such KPIs must be designed to ensure there is no overlap of duties so as to duplicate responsibilities between ministers. The government should commit to dismissing any ministers who are found wanting under such an assessment scheme, and to a constant and robust evaluation of the effectiveness of ministers and ministries. The breadth of skills and experience from the private sector that have been introduced by this government should mean that many in the ministerial ranks adapt easily and perform well under such accountability.

It is going to take all citizens working together and harnessing our creativity and skills to move our dear nation forward. In doing so, in current financially constrained circumstances, we must find a way to do more with less. Bigger is not always better. In this case, bigger might in fact be wasteful and corruption-inducing.

As always, for God and Country.

OccupyGhana®

For further information, please contact Ing. Nana Sarpong Agyeman-Badu, OccupyGhana® Media Relations by replying to this email, or on +233-264771508 or Kweku Segbefia on +233-572260604 or [email protected].

–

By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post ‘Elephant-sized’ gov’t will worsen corruption – Occupy Ghana appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Gov’t further chided GOIL for falling for speculation on the matter in what it described as a “completely needless” reaction to the reports.

[contextly_sidebar id=”GSTIzLbaQYWvEUdDipnCrdOaY9HZkdyo”]On February 25, GOIL released a statement dismissing reports to the effect President Akufo-Addo had appointed one Mr. Osei Prempeh as its new CEO.

According to the GOIL, it is listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange(GSE), hence has procedures in appointing its head, which must comply with regulations set by the GSE.

But government in a statement of its own said GOIL’s response to the alleged appointment was not anchored on any concrete evidence.

“One would have hoped, in the interest of best practices, that the issuance of such a statement by Prof. William Asumaning would have been hinged on concrete evidence, in the form of appointment letters, and not mere speculation and conjecture by an online publication. The statement by the Board Chair was unfortunate and completely needless, to say the least.

“For the avoidance of doubt, I wish to state that the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has not appointed a new CEO of GOIL, and when he decides to do so, it will be done in accordance with laid down procedures,” the statement concluded.

Find below the full statement

RE: STATEMENT BY GOIL BOARD ON APPOINTMENT OF A NEW CEO

The Office of the President has taken notice of a statement issued by Prof. William Asumaning, the Board Chairman of Goil, on Saturday, February 25, 2017, in relation to the purported appointment of a “new” Chief Executive Officer of the Company by the President of the Republic.

The statement by the Board Chairman references a Ghanaweb publication of 24th February, 2017 titled “Nana Addo Picks New Heads for Forestry Commission, Ghana Health Service and GOIL”.  It is on the basis of this story that Prof. William Asumaning put out his statement.

One would have hoped, in the interest of best practices, that the issuance of such a statement by Prof. William Asumaning would have been hinged on concrete evidence, in the form of appointment letters, and not mere speculation and conjecture by an online publication. The statement by the Board Chair was unfortunate and completely needless, to say the least.

For the avoidance of doubt, I wish to state that the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has not appointed a new CEO of GOIL, and when he decides to do so, it will be done in accordance with laid down procedures.

……signed……

Eugene Arhin

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Nana Addo did not appoint new GOIL CEO appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

First, the cultural. We tend to measure the importance of a project or task or function in a government and of the person selected to execute it by whether that person will carry the elevated title of Minister or not.

If the position is not designated as that of a Minister, we tend to downgrade in our minds both the office and the status of the person assigned to it. This is especially so if the person selected to do the task is a known politician.
Let’s take Dan Botwe’s assignment: “Regional reorganization and development”.

As I see it, what Dan Botwe has been put in charge of is really a “project” — culminating in the creation of four new administrative regions. A Ministry is typically a unit of the executive branch that oversees a number of operating agencies, each of which is in charge of implementing specific policies and laws related to the sector. Dan Botwe’s project is not of the kind that warrants or fits the mould of a Ministry.

However, if Dan Botwe was named as the man in charge of executing this big political project of creating additional regions but his job did not come with the title of Minister, we would conclude that he had been downgraded: “Dan Botwe did not get a ministerial position mpo”.

So, well, why not just call him a Minister!
In this case, since it is not exactly clear that the project he’s been put in charge of entails overseeing a number of operating agencies implementing specific laws and policies, he ends up as a Minister but, presumably, one that cannot have a Ministry per se.
The same goes for Dr. Akoto Osei’s job: Monitoring and evaluation. A very important function in a government. But if it was announced that Dr. Akoto Osei was the government’s M & E guy, but the job did not come with the Minister designation, we would conclude that the former Finance deputy under Kufuor had been demoted or skipped over.

So, well, why not just make him the M&E Minister to show that both he and his function or project are important. In each of these cases, the Minister appears to me to be essentially a Minister of State at the Presidency, except that here their precise projects have been clearly spelt out.

The second factor driving this Ministermania is constitutional–but with political effects. The constitution says a majority of your Ministers must come from Parliament.

This means that, whenever you tap an MP to perform an important project within the Executive, the natural thing is to make that person a Minister, so that the appointment would count towards meeting the majority-of-Ministers-from-Parliament requirement. There is also the additional fact that the Article 78 requirement for a majority of Ministers to be drawn from Parliament generates tremendous pressure on a President from MPs of his party to be made Ministers, especially from those MPs who regard themselves, or are widely regarded, as exceptionally capable or politically influential in one way or the other.

And if you have 170 or so MPs in a 275-strong Parliament, each feeling entitled to some ministerial juice (to make them important and valuable in the eyes of their constituents) and all of them knowing the President has no numerical constraint to how many of them he can make a Minister, you can imagine the scale of the problem. The combined effect of these constitution-driven pressures is to drive the number of Ministers up and up and up.

If Dan Botwe and Akoto Osei and Joe Ghartey were not MPs, they could simply have been appointed as senior staffers at the Presidency in charge of the special projects they’ve been tasked to undertake. But being MPs, their inclusion in the Executive in any capacity other than as Ministers would look rather odd and even harder to justify. It would also be “wasteful”, as you would have to tap more MPs in order to satisfy the Article 78 requirement. It is, therefore, not accidental that all three Ministers put in charge of special “projects” (Regional reorganization; Railway development; and monitoring and evaluation) are also MPs.

Then there is the somewhat related fact that, within the emoluments scheme, Ministers are ranked above MPs. Therefore, whenever you wish to appoint someone to an Executive position, particularly if that person is an MP, an Article 71/emoluments logic also compels you to make them a Minister. This also goes back to the cultural logic: Every constituency, social group, and region would like to see their ruling party MP or kinsman in there as a Minister–not just any insider. This is largely because, besides having better pay and perks than MPs, Ministers control more patronage, which makes them more valuable to their constituents.

In short, the way I see it, until we undo this Article 78 majority-of-Ministers-must-come-from-Parliament thing, we shall continue to experience this ‘Ministermania’ from one government to the other. Even though these ‘Ministryless’ Ministers do not come with the additional administrative costs associated with running a Ministry, they are still Ministers and, therefore, are Article 71 offfice holders. In that regard, they do come with Article 71 emolument implications.

None of this is by way of justifying either the phenomenon or any particular announced nomination. Mine is merely a perspective that I share here, in the hope and expectation, that it would help us better understand where this Ministermania is coming from and why constitutional reform must be a part of the CHANGE agenda.

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By: Henry Kwasi Prempeh

The post ‘Ministermania’; a symptom of a larger problem [Article] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Seriously? Why should this be my headache? I thought we all knew that the only permanent thing in this world is change?

I think I need help, because I really don’t understand the cacophony of noises that have greeted what seems to me like an innovation by a new government that may want to do things differently from the past.

Maybe someone should show me whether as a country, we’ve had a stagnant template in governance style that binds all governments.

I am only Thirty-Three years, and may not have witnessed all governance styles, but at least I know that since our democratic dispensation in 1992; the number of ministries or ministers has always varied among different administrations.

The number of ministries under the three NDC administrations led by Jerry Rawlings, the late Atta Mills and John Mahama, were different, although those leaders believed in the same ideology.

The New Patriotic Party administration led by then John Kufuor, had a number that is entirely different from the current number by the same NPP, led by Nana Akufo-Addo.

And this is understandable because at every point, each of the leaders had different set of goals and how they hoped to achieve them.

I think that most commentators on this trending issue are sadly failing to put things in proper perspective and context; either ignorantly or deliberately to score cheap political points.

In Jerry John Rawlings’ first term after the 1992 elections, he had Nineteen (19) substantive ministers, but he increased to Twenty-Five (25) in his second term.

John Agyekum Kufuor in his first time increased the number of substantive ministers to Thirty-One (31), and maintained the same number in his second term.

The late John Evans Atta Mills in his first term managed to beat down the number to Twenty-Three (23) to fit into his vision. It must however be noted that, he had six (6) Ministers of State in addition to the Twenty-Three (23) bringing the number to Twenty-Nine (29).

He unfortunately didn’t have a second term after his demise.

John Dramani Mahama in his first time had Twenty-Four (24) substantive ministers, with Five (5) Ministers of State at the presidency, making it Twenty-Nine 29, the exact number Atta Mills had.

Nana Akufo-Addo chooses to increase from Twenty-Four (24) substantive ministers in the Mahama administration, to Twenty-Nine (29), with six (6) Ministers of State at the presidency, and One (1) Senior Minister, bringing the total to Thirty-Six (36), a difference of seven (7) from the previous administration, ostensibly to fit into his vision.

In all, the new government has seven (7) newly created portfolios; has reintroduced five (5) portfolios which were under the erstwhile NPP regime, and maintained the Twenty-Four (24) generic ministries that have existed in the previous administration.

Must hell break loose over this?

If Nana Akufo-Addo today has such ambitious promises for which reason Ghanaians are keenly watching and expecting heaven from him, must I be bothered if he decides to use a certain unpopular or new approach to achieve his goals?

Well, its human nature to react to things we haven’t heard before. Change is often received with such posture. And like Mary Shelley, an English author once said, “Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.”

I must admit, that I found some of the new ministerial portfolios not just weird, but laughable. But at the same time, I found others like the Water Resources and Sanitation quite laudable. It’s a known fact, that sanitation in our country is one of our biggest problems, although this should not be the case after nearly sixty years of independence, when others are building planes and ships.

But if the new government wants to put this problem in sharp focus by carving a Ministry for it from the Local Government Ministry, why should that be my worry?

Those who say such ministries will mean that the country will spend more paying ex-gratia and allocating funding, also need to know, that ‘nothing goes for nothing’. Life is a risk, sometimes all you need is the courage to take that bold step; and you will succeed before you know it.

We have seen lean governments so-called in this country under some administrations, yet we witnessed wastage and corruption in gargantuan proportions. So a lean government isn’t a guarantee that we will spend less money.

On the other hand, another can choose a bigger government so-called, and yet manage resources much more prudently. Perhaps we may have to revisit the Constitution to put a cap on how many ministers are reasonable, because at this point, it is an uncontrolled space, and what is lean or big is subjective.

I will be excited to see a very clean Ghana, and if Nana Addo and his team need a Ministry for Sanitation and Water Resources to achieve that, so be it.

The reason many of us have been stuck in the race of life is because we fear to take a step of change. And the result is that, we unconsciously become pessimists. I know politicians in this country have dimmed the light of optimism in us, so we virtually receive every decision with cynicism or suspicion. Can we for once be optimistic for the change we so much yearn for, and give the new government the opportunity to work with these modules?

I do not want to behave like I am the wise King Solomon, and that I know better than Nana Akufo-Addo and his team who sat down to come up with these ideas. Margaret Mead, an American cultural anthropologist once said “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

I think that genuinely; those who should be worried about these new creations, are Nana Addo and his appointees and the NPP, because they have put themselves in the most challenging situation to the point that the party will be  dealt a heavy blow if they fail to deliver.

And that means they would have exposed themselves to the worst ridicule in our 4th Republic.

If a party that had a Railways, Ports and Harbours Ministry failed woefully in that sector in the past, now returns to office and creates a new ministry solely for the Railway sector’s development, I see that as a bold statement to do what they could not do before.

I can only look forward to a vibrant rail sector nationwide and nothing more – if they fail me, my thumb will fail them when the time comes.

For once, we have seen a President explain to us why he has appointed certain people and created specific ministries, so why should I have a headache over his approach?

I just want to trust that he and his team will deliver for us the good governance that we expect from them. I do not want to judge a government by the number of appointments it made or ministries it has created, but by the outcome of its work; and the positive impact on the citizenry.

They (Government) are the students in this scenario; and we the citizens are the examiners; we shall mark their work at the end of the exams; and give them the marks that they deserve – case closed.

Just to let you know, I don’t represent the neutrals or the majority view, I represent the truth – and I owe it to my conscience, and to my maker. And like Mahatma Ghandi once said, “Even if you are in the minority of one, the truth is the truth.”
–
By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Email: [email protected]

The Writer is a Broadcast Journalist with Citi FM. The views hereby expressed in this article are his personal opinions, and do not reflect in any form or shape, those of Citi FM.

The post Afanyi Dadzie writes: When the voters for change become pessimists appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Act states that, a President of the Republic appoints the presidential staff in consultation with the Council of State, however, Dr. Abotsi’s rebuttal to this is that, the President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo remains just the President-elect till he is sworn in, and is not bound by the Act.

[contextly_sidebar id=”2Kf1HEgR6YicSKxQwPeVcVq6FBC42Ysu”]“The Act is specifically dealing with the President, the person who is in office as President,” he indicated on the Citi Breakfast Show.

Dr. Abotsi also explained that, the announcements Nana Akufo-Addo made were also simply a proposal which only becomes effective once he assumes the office of the President.

“What Nana Akufo-Addo has actually done now is more or less a preparation towards entering the office. Now, until and unless he becomes the President, he actually has no office to appoint anyone to, and so technically all these persons who have been appointed, they have been appointed by him in anticipation of him becoming the President.”

Consultations with Council of State

Another point called into question has been which Council of State Nana Akufo-Addo will be taking counsel from; the current one advising the John Mahama administration, or the one he is yet to set up.

“At any given point in time, there must be a Council of State and that Council of State must be consulted,” Dr. Abotsi said.

This notwithstanding, he noted that, “In principle, the Council of State being a constitutional body continues. But that is in principle and the reason is because the Council of State is supposed to be an advisory chamber to the President… in practice, you hardly find members of the Council of State moving from one regime to the other.”

Dr. Abotsi further expounded on the doctrine of necessity which comes into play if there is gap between the formation of the Council of State between two regimes.

He explained that “if it happens that there is no Council of State, the doctrine of necessity would either allow the previous Council of State to continue in office until such a time that there is a new Council of State or a person whose office requires him to consult the Council of State will have the authority to act without the Council of State if the action to be taken is of such a necessity that the opposite can simply not be countenanced.”

“Whichever way you look at it, there is no prospect of Nana Addo having to consult Council of State which is not in existence and by reason of which his hands will be tied. That cannot happen.”

In essence, Dr. Abotsi said Nana Akufo-Addo is “allowed to act without having to consult the Council of State.”

“Either there is the Council of State by the doctrine of necessity or there is no Council of State. But he will be allowed to act in accordance with his own thinking once there is a statute that requires him to make certain appointments.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Akufo-Addo’s appointments not a constitutional breach – Kofi Abotsi appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, when President John Mahama and late President John Mills took the same decision, they were condemned by the NPP.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Ofosu Kwakye said although he is not against the appointment of young people in government, he found it hypocritical and unfair for the NPP to now turnaround and do same.

[contextly_sidebar id=”jv2RweNOVGFflgsGEiLWc45o91suLMX5″]The Deputy Minister made the comment on the back of Nana Akufo-Addo’s announcement of some of his administrative staff, which has about four young people namely Francis Asenso-Boakye and Samuel Abu Jinapor, both Deputy Chiefs of Staff,  Eugene Arhin, Director of Communications at the Presidency and Clara Napaga Sulemana Tia, a Presidential Staffer.

President John Mahama and late President Mills were accused for bringing on board some young people to take leadership roles in their government who were referred to as “babies with sharp teeth” following their utterances which critics found disrespectful and arrogant.

Kwakye Ofosu, while speaking on Eyewitness News on Wednesday, said “it is unfortunate that when President Mills and President Mahama gave opportunities to young persons to contribute to national development persons in the opposition and some surrogates of theirs sought to bastardize them and did not allow them the opportunity to make that contribution.”

“Here we are the President-elect has appointed at least three people within their circles to serve in his government and the same people who derided others appointed by President Mills and President Mahama are now falling over themselves to uphold the image and integrity of these young men. Like I have said, I would on any day root for any young person who is able to land a position in government because I believe that the youth have a role to play; but let us be fair to all persons irrespective of their political creed,” he added.

Felix Kwakye Ofosu however in the interview wished the President-elect and his new appointees the best of luck.

President John Mahama is expected to hand over power to Nana Akufo-Addo on Saturday January 7, 2017.

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

The post Ofosu-Kwakye questions Nana Addo’s appointment of young people appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Ahead of his official swearing-in on January 7, 2017, Nana Akufo-Addo was expected to present the list of his proposed ministers to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for review.

However that could not happen after a meeting on Thursday, as the President demanded to be given some more time to enable him carry out the necessary consultation as to who to appoint, as pressure mounts on him.

But even before Nana Addo makes the appointments in his party, other smaller political parties who performed poorly in the just ended polls are also lacing their boots to serve in the new administration.

Speaking to Citi News, the National Chairman of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Bernard Mornah, said an appointment from the Nana Addo led administration to any member of the PNC will not be out of place.

“The PNC in the past has had some members of the party serve under Kufuor’s government and even under the late Atta Mills – John Mahama administration; and so it is not new that you will have PNC members serve in governments that are not of the PNC. So the PNC cannot restrict Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP from making appointment of people they believe will be able to serve the nation.”

The Progressive People’s Party’s (PPP), Director of Communications, Paa Kow Ackon, also said the party has always been in support of an all-inclusive government and would also welcome any appointment.

“We made it clear during the campaign that we are a party that is interested in an all-inclusive administration and we will assemble the best to run the affairs of this country and so if Nana Addo, the president elect feels that members of the PPP can help him achieve his goal, why not? It’s all for the betterment of the country,” he said.

Speaking to Citi News, the Communications director for the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Kadir Abdul Rauf Issifu, also said the issue was nothing to debate about as it would be for the benefit of the country.

“The Convention People’s Party (CPP) for a long period of time has boasted of human resources. So if for the sake of development, the president-elect extends an invitation to the CPP to bring men that could help him realize his (Nana Akufo-Addo) vision for the country, I don’t think that is an invitation that we would want to reject. After all, it is not about the CPP and the NPP.”
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By: Felicia Osei/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post We won’t reject appointments from Nana Addo – Smaller parties appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.