A governance expert has called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to consider cutting down drastically the size of his government.
The expert, Professor Albert Puni, says he is of the view that the new President can attain his goal of protecting the public purse if he is able to form a lean government.
Making the call on Onua Fm’s morning show, he stated, “The President should endeavour to avoid things that transported the NDC administration to opposition.”
He explained that one of the reasons for his opinion was to ensure value for money for Ghanaians to have faith in the President’s administration.
In his inaugural address last Saturday, President Akufo-Addo vowed to protect Ghana’s public purse during his administration. According to him, public service was not an avenue for politicians to milk the state, adding that he would ensure value for money.
However, Prof. Puni said the President’s focus should be on vital sectors of the economy and placing emphasis on employing technology to reduce profligacy during his regime. “Vital sectors such as agriculture, transport and trade and industry are some of the sectors that he should concentrate on and the rest streamlined in order to have a lean government.”
The governance expert also noted that protecting the national purse should not just be a refrain but must be pursued vigorously, adding that the President should lead by example, making sure that his appointments of back room staff were reflective of his commitment to protecting the public purse. “He should constantly put his appointees in check and that will send good signals to the citizenry.”
Expectations
Prof. Puni, while commenting on promises made by the President before taking office, described those promises as challenging, but was quick to add, “I hope the President has set an attainable goal and has the right people to execute his visions.”
“We are looking at the team that the President will put together, as the party always say they have the men; but what is important is placing importance on placing the right people at the right place,’’ he concluded.
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