President Nana Akufo-Addo has named 54 more minister and deputy minister nominees to serve under his administration. This brings the number to a whopping 110 ministers – one of, if not the highest in Ghana’s political history.
Per the appointments, some ministries will have more than one deputy minister, with three deputy ministers going to each of the Ministries of Finance, Information, Energy, Agriculture and Local Government.
The 54 new minister nominees were presented to the House of Parliament for vetting and approval via a letter from the President, addressed to the Speaker of the Parliament on Wednesday 15th March, 2017.
Among the new nominees is the Deputy Majority Leader, Adjoa Sarfo who is named for the position of Minister of State for Public Procurement.
Nana Addo’s 110 ministers comprises 26 heads of ministries, 14 ministers of state, 10 regional ministers, 10 deputy regional ministers, and 50 deputy ministers. The ministers are broken down below, according to their stages of appointment and different ministries of service.
The president had previously nominated 36 ministers whose list came in three batches of 12, 13 and 11 ministers respectively. Vetting of the ministerial nominees was held between 20th January and 9th February, and they were sworn-in at the Flagstaff House on 27th January, 7th February and 10th February in their respective batches. Below is the full list of the 36 already sworn in ministers.
Minister of Inner cities and Zongo Development- Abubakar Boniface Siddique
President Akufo-Addo also appointed 10 regional minister-nominees who appeared before the Parliament Appointments Committee for vetting from Tuesday, February 14 to Thursday, February 16. Their nomination were subsequently approved by the parliament on Friday, February 17 and they were sworn in on the evening of same day. Below is the full list.
Vetting of the deputy regional minister-nominees which was commenced on Tuesday, March 14, will end today, Thursday, March 16. Below are names of the deputies and their respective regions.
Below are names of the new nominees to serve as ministers of state:
Minister of State at the Office of the President in charge of Public Procurement – Hon Sarah Adwoa Safo
Minister of State at the Office of the President – Brian Acheampong
Minister of State at the Ministry of Agriculture – Nurah Gyeile
Minister of State at the Ministry of Education in charge of Tertiary Education – Kwesi Yankah
Here are nominees to serve as deputy ministers at various ministries –
Godfred Dame – Office of Attorney General and Ministry of Justice
Joseph Dinkiok Kpemka – Office of Attorney General and Ministry of Justice
Patricia Appiagyei – Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology and Innovation
President Nana Addo’s decision to appoint some 110 Ministers has generated huge criticisms among Ghanaians who have described the move as an outrageous one. Many Ghanaians who could not hide their dissatisfaction, took to various social media platforms to vent their grievances.
Many suggested that the President in most cases was rewarding party loyalty by giving out positions as a means of compensation to those who played one role or the other to see him as the president. A lot more complained about the impact the numerous appointments will have on state funds such as “more ministers-more V8s”!
Why Not One District-One Minister? – Asiedu Nketia
Just like many other Ghanaians, General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia has decried the appointment of 110 ministers by President Nana Addo. According to him, a large government is not a prerequisite for the realisation of NPP’s promised economic transformation.
Mr Nketia in an interview with Joy News, complained that the numerous appointments are going to put pressure on the national purse, as these persons must have to be provided with all the necessary services due to government officials.
Mocking Nana Addo’s “one this-one that” promises, the NDC Chief Scribe said “they should proceed to appoint one minister, one district and one minister, one constituency.”
It has been revealed that government will have to spend about GHS20, 211, 048 annually, in form of salaries for the 110 ministers and deputies. This implies that at the end of the four-year mandate of the Akufo-Addo led administration, a total amount of GHS 80, 844, 192 would have been spent on their salaries alone.
The sum of the salary estimates was based on figures from a recommendation in a report of Presidential Committee on Emoluments signed by Prof Dora Francisca Edua-Buandoh, which announced a 10 per cent raise from January 2017.
At a press conference held in Accra on Wednesday, the Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid defended Nana Addo’s appointment of 110 ministers. According to him, many hands are needed to help the government achieve her transformation agenda. Mr. Hamid argued that things cannot be done the same way it has been done in the past while expecting different results.
“If we keep doing business as usual we cannot transform the country in the manner that we envisage”, he said.
Making reference to Article 78 (2) of the 1992 constitution, the Information Minister said the President has the right to appoint as many ministers as necessary for the efficient running of his government. He also pointed out that fewer number of government officials did not stop previous administrations from plunging the nation into huge debts; adding that it is better to have many competent people of integrity than few persons who loot the nation’s treasury.
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