No need to create new regions - Franklin Cudjoe tells Nana Addo

The Executive Director of IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe has criticised the NPP Government’s plan of creating new regions and districts to what the country already has.

President Nana Addo during the election campaign promised to create a new region out of the Western Region, a move which has been justified by the minister-nominee, Mr Dan Botwe when he before Parliament’s Appointments Committee.

However, Mr Cudjoe believes the country is spending so much on public servants and has therefore called on both the Government and the electoral commission to shun any plan of adding more constituencies to the already “absurd number of 275.”

“Our Parliament is begging the Chinese to help build a new chamber as the 275 members cannot find space to work effectively. My advice: Stop creating new regions, districts and constituencies so you don’t add to the bloated number we already have,” he said.

“The Electoral Commission and the government must ensure we do not add to the absurd number of 275. Already the MPs get paid in a month six times Ghana’s per capita as ex-gratia and the output isn’t commensurate at all. Parliament is already in a hole. It should stop digging.”

Mr Franklin Cudjoe has always advocated for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to consider cutting down drastically the size of his government.

He opined that the President can attain his goal of protecting the public purse if he is able to form a lean government, a suggestion which some Government appointees have condemned.