Cabinet reshuffle: A simple game of musical chairs

The Minority in Parliament on Thursday, described the recent Cabinet reshuffle as a simple game of musical chairs in which the same old ministers have been recycled and placed in other ministries.

The recycle also did not take into consideration the constitutional provision of ensuring reasonable gender and regional balance in appointments to public office.

A statement issued in Parliament and singed by Mr John Mahama, the Minority Spokesman on Communications, said the increase in the number of Ministries, Ministers, Special Assistants and Advisors, would rather increase the financial burden of Ghanaians, rather than lessen it.

"In the present situation where ordinary Ghanaians are being asked to tighten their belts, the huge expenditure outlay on the large army of political appointees is unjustifiable."

The Minority also questioned the appointment of four Ministers at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and said the decision was a recipe for duplication, overlapping of responsibilities, conflict and total confusion.

It said the integration of the Ministry of Youth and Sports back into the Ministry of Education was a return to the unfortunate past, where Youth and Sports failed to receive the relevant focus and attention because it was subsumed under a mammoth sector such as education.

The statement described the creation of the new Ministry of Ports, Harbours and Railways as a complete waste of resources, which was aimed at creating additional "jobs for the boys".

It also questioned under what sector the aviation industry had been placed, adding: "In the 21st Century where the emphasis in the transport sector is the development of integrated multi-model transport system, it is a regressive step to separate the management of road transport from railways and the maritime industry".

The re-designation of the Ministry of Tourism as Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of Capital City was unnecessary demotion of the "once powerful Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs".

The statement said the responsibility for Modernisation of the Capital City, was already located in the brief of the Greater Accra Regional Co-ordinating Council and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and the re-designation would, therefore, lead to open interference in the mandate of the two organisations.

The Minority said despite the President's famous confessions about how when the New Patriotic Party NPP was in opposition it criticised the previous government for having a large size yet it held the NPP government to its pre-election promise of reducing the size of government when they came to power.