The Member of Parliament for New Juaben South Dr. Mark Asibe Yeboah has said the number of ministers in the Akufo-Addo government is high, adding a lesser number could have been enough to run the affairs of the country.
He was however quick to add that the performance of the government after the 4-year tenure will justify the size of the government.
Dr. Asibe Yeboah was one of the critics of the 80 Ministers who worked in the previous John Mahama government describing the number of ministers as too high
When quizzed on Koforidua-based Kingdom FM whether he still stands by his position given that the NPP government has over 123 ministers following the creation of new regions, he said “well, I still think that the 124 Ministers might be on the high side but the President’s explanation is that he must be judged on the work they will do at the end of the four years. If the number of Ministers in his government do not commensurate with the work done. So we are waiting to Judge him at the end of the four years based on assessment of work done by the 124 ministers”.
“So I still stand by my comment made at the time the ministers were 80 that it was on the high side .I think we can do with less. But the President [Akufo-Addo] has been asked time and again and he has defended it over and over that let us wait the end will justify the numbers”.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) then in Opposition chastised the number of persons serving as Ministers in the Mahama-led government arguing that a lesser number could have been ideal for the country if the government was willing to cut down cost to save the public cost.
However, the NPP government shocked Ghanaians when it appointed 110 as Ministers, a number which has been increased to 124 following the creation of six new regions.
The main opposition National Democratic Congress and Civil Society Organizations have criticized government for the large size accusing it of creating needless Ministerial portfolios for” family and friends”.