Akufo-Addo's elephant-size government list continue to spiral – Okudzeto Ablakwa

The North Tongu Member of Parliament has joined calls for President Akufo-Addo to downsize his size of government owing to the state of the Ghanaian economy.

“It is deeply worrying to observe that President Akufo-Addo cannot seem to help himself. Despite widespread public outrage over his penchant for an elephantine-sized government; the number of Presidential Staffers has increased from 28 in 2018 to 36 in 2019. Also, the list of junior political appointees has shot up from 254 in 2018 to 270 in 2019,” Ablakwa wrote in a Facebook post hours ago.

His concern comes after the President submitted to Parliament, albeit belatedly the Annual Report on Presidential Office Staff for January to December 2019 as required by the Presidential Office Act, 1993 (Act 463).

Commenting on the list, the North Tongu lawmaker contended that the advocacy to amend Act 463 to place a cap on the number of political appointees that should be appointed (311 out of a total staffing of 934) has become even more relevant now than ever.

“Perhaps we should be asking President Akufo-Addo to help us better understand exactly what he meant by protecting the public purse,” he questioned