Akufo-Addo’s government size “shocking” – Muntaka

The Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, has joined the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia to scold President Akufo-Addo over the size of his government.

According to the Member of Parliament for Asawase in the Ashanti region, the size of Akufo-Addo’s government is ridiculously incomprehensible.

“It is shocking. It is just so shocking,” he told journalists Wednesday after proceedings in parliament.

“For the first time in the history of the Fourth Republic, we are crossing the ninetieth mark…we are crossing the ninetieth mark. Check president Rawlings’ ministers, check president Kufuor’s ministers, check the late Atta Mills’ and John Dramani Mahama.

“This is the biggest. It is so [shameful] we even heard that a minister of state at the presidency has a deputy. This is most ridiculous. Someone who is telling the whole country to tighten up their belt…[he’s] just adding on as if it is chaskeleke,” he said.

Mr. Nketia said the NPP has “let down the masses that they will cut down the size of government” ending up with a “bigger government…”

But the Minister of Information, Mustapha Hamid holds a different view, defending the ‘huge’ size of the government.

The NPP, he said never “promised a lean government” when it was in opposition, stressing that the end result is what matters when constituting a government.

“Nowhere did we ever promise a lean government because in our view it is not the leanness or bigness of a government that determines its output or its ultimate performance,” he said at a press conference Wednesday.

Akufo-Addo has appointed 110 ministers in total, making his government the biggest in the Fourth Republic. The previous NPP government led by former President John Kufuor had 88 ministers while the Mills administration that succeeded it had 69 ministerial appointees. The Mahama administration, however, had 78 ministerial appointments.