A former Deputy Minister of Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu says the current 998 staff at the Presidency is an abuse of the public purse, contrary to Nana Addo’s repeated promise to protect the public purse.
President Akufo-Addo has already been condemned for having as much as 110 ministers and their deputies.
According to him, the number, which is so far the highest recorded by a government, will only burden the state’s already limited financial resources.
In a Facebook post reacting to a report by the Presidency on its staffing position, Kwakye Ofosu said the government’s growing staff size will eventually ‘kill’ it, emphasizing that the John Mahama government had only 778 staff.
“Folks read for yourself the abuse to which President Akufo Addo is subjecting the public purse which he swore to protect.Below is the list of Presidential Office Staff presented to Parliament under the President’s own signature.”
“There are 27 Presidential Staffers, 256 ‘junior political appointees’ and 706 civil servants,making a total of 998.”
“To put this in perspective,President Akufo Addo has 220 more staff than President Mahama had,” he said.
According to the report, there are 998 staffers at the Presidency.
It appears that the new ministries created by the Akufo-Addo government and secretariats for Free SHS, among others, all operating at the presidency, may have contributed to a large number of presidential staffers.
But Kwakye Ofosu added that, “Above everything else, it is obesity that will kill the Akufo Addo government.”
Click here to see the full list of the staff
The Presidency’s list features nine Ministers of State, 27 Presidential Staffers, 256 junior political appointees, and some other 706 persons including domestic and household workers and civil servants.
Minority demand presidential list
By the end of 2014, President John Mahama had 692 employees at the presidency as of December 2014.
They included 24 presidential staffers, and 43 caterers, 36 stewards, 54 drivers,14 night-watchmen, 2 caretakers, 22 sanitary labourers, 3 other labourers, and 85 cleaners as Household staff at the presidency.
In December 2017, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) minority in Parliament demanded that the President presents a complete list of his staff, almost a year after assuming the reins of power as required by the constitution but that was not done.
If Mr. Kwakye Ofosu’s claim is anything to go by, then it means that as at 2016 when the NDC government was leaving office, the number of staff at the presidency, had shot up to 778.
–
By: Jonas Nyabor/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
