Two MPs call for cap on number of ministers
Two Members of Parliament (MP) have called for a constitutional amendment to put a cap on the number of ministers that a President can appoint. In separate interviews with the Daily Graphic in Accra last Thursday, the Minority Members of Parliament (MPs) said the unprecedented appointment of 110 ministers and deputy ministers of state by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, necessitated the need to amend the constitutional provision that did not limit the number of ministers that a President should appoint.
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The Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Keta Constituency, Mr Richard Quashigah, said the huge number of ministers was a drain on the national purse as the ministers and deputy ministers would have to be paid extra and given additional facilities.
But the Majority in Parliament said the President had operated within the law by appointing the number of ministers and deputy ministers that he felt would assist him to prosecute his transformational agenda.
The MP for Tempane and Deputy Minister designate for the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General, Mr Joseph Dindiok Kpemka, said there was no need to amend the constitutional provision to limit the number of ministers that a President could appoint because doing so would cripple the President.
The MP for Trobu and Second Deputy Majority Whip, Mr Moses Anim, earlier told journalists that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had the men and women to do the job, therefore, the President picked them to fast-track his development agenda.
President Akufo-Addo last Wednesday submitted the names of 54 people to Parliament for approval as ministers of state and deputy ministers. The list submitted included 50 deputy ministers and four ministers of state. It brings the number of substantive ministers to 50 and 60 for deputy ministers, making a total of 110, which is the highest in the history of the Fourth Republic.
Minority's take
Messrs Ablakwa and Quashigah said the number of ministers from Presidents Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufuor, John Evans Atta Mills and John Dramani Mahama was below 90, but President Akufo-Addo had overshot that mark.
They said the constitutional amendment would prevent a President from going overboard with the appointment of ministers.
Mr Ablakwa said the duplication of functions of ministers and ministers of state was worrying.
Mr Ablakwa, who is a former Deputy Minister of Education, again wondered why a Minister of State had been appointed to the Ministry of Education to be in charge of tertiary education in addition to the substantive minister and two deputy ministers.
Mr Quashigah dismissed the suggestion by the Minister of Information, Mr Mustapha Hamid, that the huge number of ministers was to have a strong team to restore the ailing economy.
He said that suggestion was weak, since huge numbers did not mean that the people would deliver.
Mr Quashigah indicated that it was wrong to suggest that the number of ministers did not matter, the results are what matters.
He said the huge number of ministers came with a cost since the government would spend extra money to facilitate their work.
Mr Quashigah claimed that the President was under pressure to make the appointments, and indicated that it made political sense for him to make the appointment to appease his members.
However, he said, that decision had a significant impact on the national purse.
Majority's rebuttal
Mr Kpemka said the constitution allowed the President to appoint as many ministers he wanted to help him to prosecute his agenda.
Therefore, he said, President Akufo-Addo had not broken any law by appointing the 110 ministers and deputy ministers.
