Former President John Mahama had today chided President Akufo-Addo for ‘filling’ his large government almost entirely with his close family and friends and has consequently asked the President to live by the standards he set out when he was in opposition.

According to the former President John Mahama, when he was President he also had qualified family members but chose not to appoint them into positions of influence in his government for good reason.

Addressing NDC supporters at Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region, he said:

“They are changing all the rules of the game. When we were in government, they said: ‘The size of government was too high, you must reduce the size of government’. Then when they come into government and they appoint 110 ministers, 998 [presidential] staffers, then they say it’s not about quantity, it’s about quality,” he told the crowd of NDC supporters.

“Who determines quality?” he asked.

“When they are out of government, even when you are not doing family and friends, they say it’s a family and friends government, then, when they come into government, they appoint all their relatives into government and when you talk they say it doesn’t matter, it’s whether they are qualified, but who doesn’t have relatives who are qualified?” he asked again.



“I have plenty relatives who are qualified, who could have served in my government but the fact that you are president does not mean you must load your government with your relatives.” He said.

“One of the tags they put on us very successfully was that we were an incompetent government. I must say if you look at what this government has done so far in the one year three months, if that is what they call competence, I call it super incompetence, and, so, the government should be up and doing,” he said.