Not all Akufo-Addo ministers are being paid - Deputy Information Minister

The Deputy Minister of Information, Pius Enam Hadzide, has claimed that some ministers under the Akufo-Addo government are not receiving salaries.

According to him, most ministers in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration double as Members of Parliament (MP).

This, he said, helps to save the national purse since an MP appointed as a minister does not take salary for both positions.

Speaking in an interview with Accra-based Okay FM, Mr. Hadzide said the current administration is doing its best to safeguard the national purse.

The deputy information minister was reacting to calls by former president John Mahama that the size of the Nana Addo government was draining the national purse.

President Akufo-Addo raised many eyebrows when he named a whopping 110 ministers in his government, with certain quarters questioning the rationale behind such a sizable government.

In February, the number increased from 110 to 123 following the appointment of ministers and deputy ministers to the six newly-created regions.

Mahama said the NPP administration must immediately cut the size of its government in order to reduce expenditure.

He said the positions of Senior Minster and Ministers for Procurement, Monitoring and Evaluation, Business Development, Special Initiatives, among others, should be scrapped.

However, Mr. Hadzide insists Mahama’s criticism is misplaced and ridden with political sentiments.