General News of Thursday, 21 January 2021

Source: 3news.com

Monitoring & Evaluation ministry needless, collapse it - Akufo-Addo told

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo

Private legal practitioner, Bernard Owiredu Donkor, has asked President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to dissolve the Ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation.

He said that ministry is needless because the functions of the sector minister can be performed by the Chief of Staff.

Mr Owiredu Donkor told TV3’s Johnnie Hughes in an interview that all the ministers should be asked to assess the work of their ministry and then document the assessment for onward submission to the Chief of Staff.

He was commenting on the impending ministerial appointments to be done by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Asked whether he thinks the Ministry should be maintained, he said “For me no. Initially, I was of the view that at the time the Ministry was created, it was not necessary because a minister in itself should be responsible for evaluating his ministry."

“He should be responsible for monitoring their activities within his ministry.”

“So, to set up a different unit to monitor such activities for me could have come under the responsibility of the Chief of Staff who will have access to all the ministers and from time to time call them to tell them about how she is monitoring their activities. So for me, I think such duties should be given to the Chief of Staff.”

Meanwhile, Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin has served notice that the number of ministers and ministries will be reduced by the president.

Mr Arhin in an interview with the Daily Graphic said the President Akufo-Addo has decided to collapse seven of the ministries he created in 2017.

He said, “The list, which would be printed on green sheets in the form of a statement, would contain a mixture of both old and new ministers, but the number would certainly not go beyond 85, as against the 126 in the first term.”

“Over 40 ministers and deputy ministers in the first Akufo-Addo administration who lost their parliamentary seats will not find themselves in the new government.”