[ 2017-03-15 ]

Mustapha Hamid

NPP never promised lean government – Hamid
The New Patriotic Party “never” promised a
lean government during the 2016 electioneering
campaign, presidential spokesperson Mustapha Hamid
has said.

Mr Hamid’s comments follow criticism by a
section of Ghanaians about the large number of
ministers and deputy ministers appointed by
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

According to critics, the number of ministers will
put a stress on the public purse as Nana
Akufo-Addo named 54 deputy ministers for the
various ministries on Wednesday March 15.

In an answer to a question posed by Class News’
Kwesi Parker-Wilson at a press conference in Accra
on Wednesday 15 March, Mr Hamid said it was better
to have a large government with men of integrity
who will be efficient on the job than a lean,
corrupt government.

“We never promised a lean government. Nowhere
did we promise a lean government, because in our
view it is not the leanness or bigness of a
government that determines its output and its
ultimate performance,” Mr Hamid stated.

He justified the size of Nana Akufo-Addo’s
government, saying: “We have had, in the history
of this country, governments that are smaller that
have landed this country in bigger debt and bigger
mess than governments that have had bigger
ministers. For example, the Kufuor government,
apart from this Akufo-Addo government, would have
been the government that had the biggest number of
ministers and deputy ministers. But everybody
knows President Kufuor’s record in this country.
Everybody knows what we did for this nation at the
end of President Kufour’s government. Those who
came subsequently after that and created all the
financial mess that we have on our hands which we
are still dealing with had a smaller government.

“So I can purport to run a government with 10
ministers and still create an avenue to loot our
nation if that is what the Ghanaian people want or
to have a government that is bigger than that but
which has people of integrity, honesty who are on
the job and doing the things that ought to be
done.”

The Nana Akufo-Addo-led government has the largest
number of ministers and deputy in the country
numbering over 100.

Source - classfmonline.com

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