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Ghanaian Politics

Reduce number of ministers to 40 and save ¢6bn each year – IMANI Africa to government

By : cd on 16 Aug 2022, 01:14     |     Source: myjoyonline

Franklin Cudjoe

A policy think tank, IMANI Africa, is demanding a reduction in the number of ministers to 40.

Speaking to JoyNews, the President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe said the move will save the economy an estimated ¢6 billion annually.

The Akufo-Addo administration has 86 ministers, a sharp contrast with the 126 ministerial appointments that characterized his first term of office.

However, Mr Cudjoe thinks this is not enough to protect the public purse.

“In the far advanced countries, when the President falls sick, you see the effects immediately, the stock prices change. When many public servants really did not work, except for those who work in the hospitals or maybe public institutions that are very critical, you probably did not see.

“A lot of them really, if they were not at work, I don’t think there will be any significant difference in the nature of the economy. We will only see the impact dramatically.”

He added that “it’s the same way for our ministries, there are too many of them, there are too many ministries that could be collapsed into fit-sized ministries and just have agency heads that could do the work.

“If we did that, we would have saved this economy at least in this critical time, ¢6 billion,” he assured.

Due to the current economic crisis, a section of Ghanaians has called on President Akufo-Addo to consider reducing the number of ministers of state.

Others, including economists, political analysts and the opposition National Democratic Congress have called for reshuffle adding that the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta’s appointment should be terminated.

However, President Akufo-Addo maintains that he has competent hands managing the various sector of development.

He was of the view that people calling for the reshuffle are jobless individuals who seek to destabilize his government.