Do we still need 129 ministers? - Twum Boafo asks Akufo-Addo

Despite the arguments that have been raised in defence of the large bureaucratic levels and size of the Akufo-Addo-led administration, the former CEO of Ghana Free Zones Authority, Kojo Twum Boafo continues to question the viability of such arguments.

Kojo Twum Boafo still finds it baffling that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in the face of the coronavirus scourge still manages to disburse funds to his 129 substantive ministers.

According to him, this does not only bring the issue of multiplicity and waste but also hampers the fight against the Coronavirus as it drains funds which could have otherwise been invested in fighting the deadly virus.

While contributing to a panel discussion on Good Morning Ghana, on the effects of coronavirus on education, employment and other sectors of the economy, Thursday, April 30 2020, he asked the following questions to buttress his point, “…What I’m asking us as a nation is do we really need the levels of bureaucracy at all levels? Do we need all the 129 ministers? Do we need the deputy minister for everything?.

Adding that, “as a nation we have to ask ourselves do we need a special assistant for everything? Do we need a director for everything?...because it’s simply a drain on the taxpayers’ pocket…"

He added that even the United Kingdom where Ghana learnt some of its bureaucratic principles has fewer ministers of state as compared to Ghana. “It looks like we have lost the broth, the standard that this government has set will be difficult for subsequent governments to absolve itself from it.”

In the same breath, Twum Boafo argued strongly that the Finance Ministry would subsequently be left to bear the consequences of all the financial drain once the pandemic passes but President Akfuo-Addo is not coming forthright with the ordinary Ghanaian.

“At the end of all this, our finance Ministry is going to have a challenge. People haven’t been working not because they do not want to work but because they simply can’t go to work. That is going to test their revenue streams, the revenue collection…It has affected us in all kinds of ways. I know that probably this government won’t come out and tell the truth…,” he further argued.

Twum Boafo was, however, quick to add that one of the main positive lessons the outbreak of the virus has taught not only Ghanaians but the entire human race is “showing us what human limitation is all about.”