Mahama's ministers hit 85

The government of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) keeps swelling by day with the nomination of 26 more Deputy Ministers late Tuesday evening increasing the number of ministerial appointees so far to not less than 85.

The latest nominees include the likes of Victoria Hammah, defeated Ablekuma West parliamentary candidate, for Communications, Nii Lantey Vanderpuye for Trade and Industry, Murtala Mohammed for Information and Media Relations as well as Joseph Yammin for Youth and Sports and six other individuals who have been appointed to the Presidency as Ministers of State.

There are speculations that more people are likely to be appointed to ministerial positions by the time the nominees are vetted, especially with no substantive minister for the Upper East. The region has a Minister of State in charge of Scholarship at the presidency, Alhaji Muniru Lemuna acting as the regional minister.

Though most of these nominees have been vetted and approved, there appears to be many more lined up for nomination, with the likes of James Agyenim Boateng, Alex Segbefia, Kofi Adams, Bernard Mornah, Kobby Acheampong and others still jogging on the sidelines.

Agyenim Boateng is said to have been sent to the Office of the Vice President as his spokesperson.

But the President’s nomination has already sparked a wild debate like a raging inferno, with most Ghanaians and socio-political analysts criticising the large number of Ministers and their Deputies, wondering where the austerity measure announced by the government had gone to.

Some members on the Minority side of Parliament have already expressed misgivings about the development since they believe it could have a telling effect on state coffers.

President Mahama had promised to run a lean government but with almost 90 ministers of state as of now.

The quality of some of the appointments is being questioned with some saying that they are just jobs for the boys.

MP for New Juaben South, Dr Assibey Yeboah, is, for instance, quoted to have said “the size of government is just too big…almost every major Ministry has two Deputies; Finance, Lands and Forestry, Agriculture” describing it as “just jobs for the boys.”

This, he said, was because President Mahama was only seeking to satisfy everybody and “he is gradually showing that he is truly indecisive…he hasn’t even got the grasp on how to appoint these Ministers…I will not be surprised, if the count gets to 100.”

“You are paying your Ministers about GHC10,000 a month; you are paying your deputies about GHC9,000 a month, besides that, you give them a Land Cruiser, you give them a salon car, now you have to give them a bungalow furnished, you have cooks, you have house boys and you have Police protection and free phone calls and the rest,” he noted in an interview on Accra-based private radio station Citi FM.

Meanwhile, he said the total spent on each Minister in a year is from GHC500,000 to about GHC1million.

In view of the current state of the country, the legislator said Ghana should not have more than 60 Ministers.

Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, Dr Ransford Gyampoh, has questioned the size of the NDC government, insisting that it was too large for a small country like Ghana. Dr Gyampoh insisted the fact that the country’s Constitution was silent on the number of ministers a president could appoint did not give any president the right to appoint party apparatchik. Left to him alone, the president should have nominated not more than 40 ministers to run the affairs of the nation.

President Mahama last Tuesday nominated 26 persons for appointment as deputy ministers, joining the earlier nine people named for various ministries.

This brings the list to 44 deputy ministers including the 10 deputy regional ministers.

The list of deputy-minister nominees includes Ricketts Kweku Hagan, MP for Cape Coast South, who is heading to the Ministry of Finance; Ebenezer Okletey Teye Larbi, immediate past deputy Eastern regional minister is partnering Mark Woyongo as deputy for the Ministry of Defence; Dr Tia Sugri, former deputy minister of Food and Agriculture now for the Ministry of Health; Alex Kyeremeh, MP for Techiman North, for the Ministry of Education; Yaw Effah Baafi, MP for Kintampo South and former deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, for the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, to support Alhaji Inusa Fusseini; James Agalga, newly elected MP for Builsa North, for the Interior Ministry; Vincent Oppong Asamoah, former Dormaa Municipal Chief Executive and MP for Dormaa West, for the Ministry of Water Resources, Works & Housing and Sampson Ahi, deputy Majority Whip, for the Ministry of Water Resources, Works & Housing.

Others are Dr Alhassan Ahmed Yakubu, MP for Mion, for the Ministry of Food & Agriculture; Dr Hannah Louisa Bissiw, formerly of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, for the Ministry of Food & Agriculture; Benjamin Dagadu and former presidential spokesperson, John Abdulai Jinapor for the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum; Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed joins Felix Kwakye Ofosu to partner Mahama Ayariga at the Ministry of Information & Media Relations; Joseph Yammin, Ashanti Regional Secretary for the NDC, for Ministry of Youth & Sports; Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye, MP for Odododiodioo, for the Ministry of Trade & Industry and Victoria Hammah for the Ministry of Communications and a host of others.