Leaked Deputy Ministerial Appointment Returns Akufo Addo’s Government To Mammoth Level

A leaked list of deputy ministers reportedly appointed by President Akufo Addo and yet to be announced officially, shows a tall list of about 35 Deputy Ministers would cumulatively bring the total ministerial appointments of the government to its much-criticised former mammoth levels of 110.

If this list turns out to be confirmed, it will mean the current tenure of President Akufo Addo would be having more ministers than the first term where the 110 ministers were heavily criticised both locally and internationally. 

The total tally would come down to 113 ministers as the President has already sneaked in Yaw Osafo Maafo, Oboshie Sai Coffie and Akoto Osei as Presidential Advisors with quasi-ministerial powers to the Jubilee House. 

In Osafo Maafo’s case, he was the Senior Minister, and shortly after the first term tenure of President Akufo Addo ended this year, he announced his retirement and the office of Senior Minister was reportedly scrapped, much to the relief of Ghanaians who had decried the amorphous ministries that had bloated the Akufo Addo administration.

The return of Osafo Maafo is therefore seen by critics as an unforgiven deception by the Akufo Addo-led New Patriotic Party administration.

Meanwhile, in the list of deputy ministerial nominees making the rounds, there is an average of two deputy ministers in all the ministries, with three key ministries having up to three deputy ministers.

The Ministries of Finance, Energy and Trade have three deputy ministers, while the ministries of Education, Attorney General, Roads & Highways, Communication, Lands & Forestry, Foreign Affairs, Food & Agriculture, Transport and Health all have two deputy ministers.

The remaining eight ministries including the Gender, Interior, Youth & Sports, Defence, Railways, Employment, Fisheries and Information all have one deputy ministers.

The list has been making the rounds on some pretty credible platforms on social media, but no word has yet been uttered by the Akufo Addo administration about it.

Critics think if the list turns out to be true, it will be a huge indictment on the commitment of the Akufo Addo administration to its professed austerity measures in solidarity with the economic hardships imposed on Ghanaians from the almost GHC 300 billion public debt and lack of investment in infrastructure.

However, while the impression was being created that the government will run a lean government in 2021, the number of ministers increases more than the previous year and the office of government machinery (Jubilee House) increased its budgetary allocation by some 800% from GHC136 million in 2020 to GHC824 million in 2021.