Mixed reactions greet new ministerial portfolios
The creation of new ministerial portfolios by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has received mixed reactions from some individuals in Accra
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While some have described the creation as a strategic move to address specific national needs, others say it will be a drain on national coffers.
The new portfolios include National Security, Sanitation and Water Resources, Monitoring and Evaluation, Railway Development, Special Development Projects and Business Development.
A Senior Minister has also been nominated in the person of Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo.
All of them will operate from the Office of the President.
High Expenditure
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the President of Action for Development, Mr Kwasi Asamoah, said the creation of the new portfolios had the potential to be good and bad.
He said the new ministries could increase government expenditure, while, on the other hand, it could be a strategy for effective governance .
“In doing all this, we should take into consideration the expenditure. Government needs to cut expenditure, instead of increasing expenditure,” he said.
Contradiction
Mr Asamoah noted that some of the ministries created could have overlapping functions, citing, as an example, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of National Security.
“Some of the ministries the President has created are irrelevant,” he added.
Explaining further, he said the Ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation was irrelevant because the Senior Minister could easily do the work that would be assigned to the Minister responsible for Monitoring and Evaluation.
Strategies
The Director of Academic Affairs at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Dr Vladimir Antwi-Danso, could not understand the criticisms against the creation of certain ministries.
He stated that every government had its objectives and measures must be put in place to attain such objectives.
“For instance, if you want to attain higher objectives in agriculture, you need to restructure the Agricultural Ministry to work effectively. So I believe that is what the President is doing to fulfill his promises to Ghanaians,” he said.
Effectiveness
Dr Antwi-Danso said the impression in certain circles that the Ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation was irrelevant was unfortunate.
“I believe it is relevant due to accountability. There are monitoring and evaluation units under the ministries but they are not working, and so creating a separate ministry is the right way to go.
“I personally think the Monitoring and Evaluation Ministry is very relevant and will make the ministers work very hard,” he said.
Dr Antwi-Danso said the Senior Minister and the Chief of Staff could never perform conflict roles, as some had suggested.
A former President of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), Dr Samuel Ofori Bekoe, explained that the functions of the Ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation could be undertaken by the Senior Minister.
“According to information gathered, the Ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation will monitor and evaluate projects, but there are monitoring and evaluation units in all the ministries and so I don’t see the importance of creating that ministry,” he said.