Cutting down size of ministries will not be realistic - Nana Oppong

"Attempts by President Akufo-Addo to cut down the size of his government now will be unrealistic." That is the view of an anti-corruption crusader, private legal practitioner, and president of DISTINSA, Dr. Nana Oppong.

He was of the view that the president has already created large pools of income for many people who still hope to benefit from his term as president and so it would be quite difficult for him to completely slash out ministries.

Even more, the president of the Distinguished Scholars of Africa (DISTINSA) is convinced that should any such thing happen, it would be so unrealistic because those roles and persons will continue to appear in the shadows, perhaps, fleecing more than they would have done if they were in the spotlight, from the country's coffers.

Nana Oppong was speaking broadly on corruption especially within the current government on the Ghana Yensom show, Accra Fm's morning show, on Tuesday, January 12, 2021.

"The buildings that have been constructed, the staff who have been employed and the machines that have been acquired are all there. If those ministries are collapsed, where will all these go? A change now will not be a reasonable idea because they will only find their own way to exist in the shadows," Dr. Nana Oppong explained.

He was optimistic too that if the subject of competence is addressed, starting from the citizenry being equipped with knowledge on how to identify corruption, all the way to those in decision-making positions, it is only then that we can begin to say we are winning the fight against corruption.

"People who go into political office have an understanding that it is a self-enriching opportunity. So, every position in Ghana is a corruptible position and so how do you fight it?

"It is already almost impossible for governments to fight corruption. Just consider the total number of people who make up a government compared to the total number of people they rule over and then you will understand what a difficult task it will be for them," he said.

He added that, besides, not only those in leadership are corrupt; many more people are and so it is expected that the tradition or practice continues.