Ministerial reshuffle will not solve Ghana’s economic problems – Gabby
A staunch member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Otchere Darko, has criticised persons calling for a ministerial reshuffle to sack officials whose sectors are underperforming.
He asserts that the reshuffling of ministers is not a one-stop shop for solving the country’s current economic problems.
The NPP stalwart stated in a Facebook post on Sunday, 24 July 2022, that the reshuffle cannot bring down inflation, stop the Russia-Ukraine war, or make the depreciating Cedi bounce back stronger.
“It is as if a ministerial reshuffle would bring down inflation, stop the war in Ukraine, and make the cedi forever stronger than the dollar,” his post read.
This comes after some Ghanaians, including well-known political and economic experts, urged the president to reshuffle his cabinet.
The calls are in response to recent economic hardships that have bedevilled the country.
The Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has suggested a reduction in the number of ministers of state.
According to Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, fewer ministers than currently exist will lower the pressure on the public purse.
Speaking at a public lecture at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on Tuesday, 12 July 2022, he explained that based on the 1992 Constitution, the president is mandated to appoint up to only 19 cabinet ministers.
He is not the only one to make that suggestion.
The Chief Executive Officer of the John Kufuor Foundation, Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, also joined calls for the government to reduce the number of ministers.
Additionally, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has also suggested a slash in the number of ministers and appointees at the Presidency.
This measure, in his view, has become necessary due to the agitations on the labour front and the country’s engagements with the IMF for a bailout.
“Drastically reduce the number of Ministers, abolish Deputy CEO positions, dismiss the CEO for the ridiculous non-existent Keta Port and slash the outrageous 337 political appointees at the Office of the President by more than half,” Mr Ablakwa wrote in a Facebook post.