As the new administration starts work today, a governance expert has called on the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to consider cutting down drastically the size of his government.

Professor Albert Puni opined that the President can attain his goal of protecting the public purse if he is able to form a lean government. He made the call on Onua Fm morning show Yen Nsem Pa hosted by Bright Kwesi Asempa on Monday.

“The president should endeavor to avoid things that transported the NDC administration to opposition, some of those is to ensure value for money, he should check the size of his government and that alone will get Ghanaians to have assurance in his administration. Nana should run a lean government”.

Contained in his inaugural address on Saturday, President Akufo-Addo has vowed to protect the public purse during his administration. According to him, public service is not an avenue for politicians to milk the state adding that he will ensure value for money.

Meanwhile, Prof. Albert Puni said the President’s focus should be on vital sectors of the economy and place emphasis on employing technology to reduce profligacy during his regime. “Vital sectors such as Agric, Economy, Transport and Trade and Industry are some of the sectors that he (Nana Addo) should concentrate on and streamline the rest in order to have a lean government”.

The governance expert noted that protecting the national purse should not just be a refrain but must be pursued vigorously. The President should lead by example making sure that his appointments of backroom staff should reflect on his commitment to protecting the public purse.

“He should constantly put his appointees in check and that will send good signals to the citizenry”.

EXPECTATIONS

Professor Puni while commenting on promises made by the President before taking office, described those promises as challenging but was quick to add that “I hope the President has set an attainable goal and has the right people to execute his visions” “We are looking at the team that the President will put together as the party always say they have the men but what is important is placing importance on placing the right people at the right place,” Professor Albert Puni concluded.