Ghana Can Function With 19 Ministers: Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu Stokes Debate About Huge Ministerial Appointments

• Majority Leader Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu has called for a drastic reduction in the size of government to 19 ministers
• He said the team of cabinet ministers and the 16 regional ministers is enough to keep the country running efficiently
• He said reducing the number of ministerial appointments would greatly reduce huge government expenditure

Majority Leader Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu has stoked a debate with a call on the Executive arm of government to cut its ministerial appointments to just 19.

Ghana under Nana Akufo-Addo currently has over 100 ministers and deputy ministers, mirroring previous governments.

However, speaking at a public lecture, Akufo-Addo’s Minister for Parliamentary Affairs said the 19 cabinet ministers that the president has are enough to manage the country’s affairs.

“Given the role of cabinet ministers, that is for running the state efficiently and assisting the President in the determination of policy of his government, it is my contention that apart from regional ministers, the number of central government ministers may not have to exceed 19 as contained in the Constitution,” he said.

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Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu was speaking at a lecture at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on Wednesday, July 13, 2022.

“The excess numbers must be cut off and that will significantly reduce public expenditure. For the avoidance of doubt, the Constitution must provide for that,” he said.

The comments by the government appointee and MP for Suame in the Ashanti Region have stoked a debate about huge ministerial and other political appointments.

A member of the ruling New Patriotic Party, Kofi Ofosu Nkansah, has not taken kindly to the proposal by Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu.

He said as a test for Mr Mensah-Bonsu’s suggestion, his ministry, Parliamentary Affairs, must be scrapped.

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Source: YEN.com.gh