Check excesses in your gov't, too many ministers, presidential staffers - Economist tells Akufo-Addo

Head of Economics at the University of Ghana, Professor William Baah Boateng, has raised concerns about the economic waste under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo resulting in the hardships Ghanaians are currently facing. Speaking in an interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show, Professor Baah Boateng underscored the need for the President to cut down the size of his appointees as well as check the redundancy in State enterprises. He noted that there are many staffers at the Presidency whose duties are a duplication of the work given to his appointees, yet the staffers receive huge salaries. "We always talk about the number of Ministers; 110 and so forth. I admit it is a big number but it is not limited to the Ministers alone. Do you know we have Presidential Staffers Act? The staffers in Jubilee House are equivalent to a lot of the Ministers, are you aware of that? So, if we have presidential staffers numbering about 100 and 110 Ministers, some of the presidential staffers' equivalent is Deputy Ministers. Some of their equivalent is Ministers and others are Cabinet Ministers. They collect the same remuneration that we say it's too big for the Ministers," he said. He also stated that the output of a lot of the people working in State enterprises doesn't match the number of the workforce, thus placing a huge burden on the government. The Senior Lecturer further decried the politics where successive governments abandon infrastructure projects started by their predecessors stressing it makes the nation run into debts. He argued that because government neglects the projects, it is compelled to borrow to defray the debts. "It puts pressure on your cedi and these are the things that give us problems," he stated. He advised the President to check the excesses in his government.