Ghana needs only 20 Ministries - Minority Leader

Minority leader in Parliament Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has backed calls for a drastic cut in the size of the executive arm of government.

This follows statements made by economics professor George Ayittey, urging president Mahama to cut down the size of his ministers into half to enable him effectively fight corruption within the government.

Prof Ayittey said the president has inherited a huge structural deficit problem which can only be cured by taking politically difficult choices. Speaking on Strict Proof on radio XYZ Thursday, Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said he believes the country could be effectively managed with only twenty ministries with fewer Ministers."

“I believe that some of the problems of parliament [are] self-inflicted. We are severely under-resourced. If we had a maximum of 20 ministries, there would be more depth, where roles and duties could be delegated to deputy ministers and other officials." "Look at the transport ministry for instance, now we have succeeded in splitting it up into land, transportation and aviation, ports, so on and so forth; what effect has it brought?” he queried.

Another economist, Dr. Theophilus Richardson, also told Strict Proof he supports calls to cut down the numbers of Ministers.

“This is not the first time Ghanaians have shared concerns on the issue, the increasing expenditure on members of states alone is disturbing".

About 60% of government expenditure is used to pay salaries of ministerial officials,” he argued.

“On economic grounds I don’t think we need such numbers to run the country efficiently.”