President's Powers Under Scrutiny -HKP

The Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), has called for the amendment of sections of the constitution which grant the President uncontrolled powers in the appointment of Ministers of State.

The Director of Legal Policy of the CDD, (and registered member of the GhanaHomePage discussion forum - SIL), Kwasi Prempeh (HKP) says although the constitution is clear on the number of cabinet ministers to be chosen, it does not limit the President as far as the number of ministers to be appointed is concerned.

He contends that the constitution has some design defects which enables the President to indulge in an appointment bonanza, apparently to suit members of his party.

Mr. Prempeh says the ambiguity of the constitution on such matters, can be dangerous if the country gets a President who is power drunk.

Meanwhile, excerpts of an article published in the CDD’s mouthpiece - the Democracy Watch, says Ghana has too many ministers, deputy ministers, special assistants and presidential staffers.

''Moreover the Kufuor Administration apparently preferring the political campaign route to executive office has appointed far more Members of Parliament as ministers and deputy ministers than the predecessor government.''

The CDD says this has often produced negative repercussions including occasional discontinuance for want of quorum in the conduct of Parliament’s business.

It says although the constitution does not place a ceiling on the President’s ministerial pool, it does not compel any President to appoint an unwieldy number of Ministers.

It recommends a ministerial team that is not more than twice the size of cabinet (allowing each cabinet minister to have a deputy minister) and ten regional ministers for an absolute total of 48, to sufficiently run a country and economy, the size of Ghana’s.

It says after all there are non-ministerial appointments at the office of the President, a 25-member Council of State, 13-member National Security Council, Police, Armed Forces and Prisons Councils as well as several other commissions, authorities, boards and appointees (including 110 DCEs) assigned specific tasks.

If, despite the already large number of ministers and deputy ministers, the President believes he is not getting the kind of results he expects, he must seek the solution not in even larger numbers, but in a more efficient and effective deployment of the available resources, and indeed, in smaller numbers as ''too many cooks'' may in fact be ''spoiling the broth'', the publication noted.