Many have accused the president of recruiting party foot-soldiers to serve irrelevant roles
The Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has expressed disappointment in President Nana Akufo-Addo for overstaffing the presidency.
According to a report released to Parliament on the staffing position of the Office of the President for the period January 7, 2017 to December 31, 2017, the office had nine Ministers of State, 27 presidential staffers, 256 Junior Political Appointees and 706 civil and public servants, totaling 998.
CDD-Ghana said the staggering number is “deeply worrying” taking into consideration the burden it puts on the national purse. It is therefore calling on Parliament and the Council of State to be proactive to put checks on the presidency.
“The Center is especially disappointed at the President’s decision to continue this trend of overstaffing at the Presidency, given the public concerns raised over his appointment last year of 110 Ministers and Deputy Ministers,” CDD-Ghana said in a statement.
“CDD-Ghana is also disappointed that neither the Council of State nor Parliament has seen fit to rein in this growing indifference of successive administrations to the fiscal cost of a super-sized presidential staff and retinue. Although the role of the Council of State in the staffing of the Presidency is, under the applicable statute, only consultative, the point of inserting the Council in the process is presumably to enable it counsel the President in its staffing decisions, including, we would expect, in the size, where it appears excessive.”
Below is the full statement:
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