[ 2017-02-13 ]

Parliament of Ghana

Akufo-Addo charged to introduce legal instrument to back new ministries
Member of Parliament (MP) for Wa East has charged
President Akuffo Addo to speedily introduce a
legal instrument to parliament to back the new
ministries he has created.

Joseph Yeileh Chireh said the instrument which
would clearly spell out the mandate of the new
ministries need to be introduced quickly to avoid
a turf war.

Speaking on the floor of the House last Friday
when parliament approved the Presidents last batch
of ministerial nominees, he said parliament has
approved all the substantive ministerial nominees
without any legal instruction which was not the
best.

"We would soon be filing questions, so if we don't
know which minister to address or which
departments are under which ministry, it would be
difficult to file questions for ministers to
answers," he said.

He also urged the Majority leader who doubles as
the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs to work
hard while quizzing if he would be reshuffled
outside his leadership role in the House which is
likely to cause a confusion.

A legislative instrument for new ministries states
clearly the mandate of particular ministry as well
as Departments and Agencies under it.

Some of the new ministries created include the
Business Development ministry to be headed by
Mohammed Awal; Railway Development which is under
the leadership of former Attorney General, Joe
Ghartey while Madina MP Boniface Saddique is the
new minister for Inner City and Zongo Development.


Others are Monitoring and Evaluation which Dr Osei
Akoto is the sector minister and the Ministry of
Regional Re-organisation which would be headed by
Okere MP, Dan Kwaku Botwe.

For these ministries to be able to carry out their
duties for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to
achieve its change agenda, Mr Chireh advised it is
only prudent for President Akufo-Addo speedily
delineate their functions and mandates.

The President has been criticised since announcing
the nominees to head the ministries to help him
prosecute his agenda.

Some policy analysts including President of a
think-tank, IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe have
asked the President to reduce the number of
appointees.

He argued that the new ministries would put a
strain the resources of government adding
ministries were unnecessary since the would be a
duplication of functions citing the Ministry of
Regional Re-organisation and the Ministry of Local
Government as an example.

He believed cutting these ministries would save
the nation a lot of money which could be
channelled to other areas they are badly needed.

But the President said contrary to claims making
the rounds, the new ministries would work under
the umbrella of the Office of the President.

"Our economy is in difficulty and it is,
therefore, time for us to work hard and put the
necessary steps in place to our help our people,"
he said.

Source - Myjoyonline.com

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