"Reshuffle should have reduced number of Ministers"

A lecturer at the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, Mr Steven Ahiawodor, has said that the recent cabinet reshuffle by the President should have been aimed at reducing the number of ministers.

He described the merger of some ministries as uncalled for because it does not seem to give a clear picture of the government?s policy direction.

Mr Ahiawordor said in an interview in Accra yesterday that the reshuffle has made positions within government nebulous and assume an amorphous nature.

He questioned, for instance, the validity of the creation of the Ministry of Tourism and City Development adding that it is not only Accra which deserves a face-lift.

He noted that if the government had put the issue of reshuffle in the public domain, an effective discussion would have taken place to avoid the mistakes that now confront the nation.

Mr Ahiawodor agreed that the integration and disintegration of some ministries may be to create a synchronisation for policy harmonisation.

He said how will the government account for four ministers in the same ministry as it is happening in the Ministry of Education.

Mr Ahiawodor also queried the position of Minister of State?, stressing that the lines of authority should be drawn between the substantive minister, deputy ministers and ministers of State.

He also wondered about the fate of most special assistants, who were employed for their special skills.

?The hierarchy of authority has a potential to create problems when the power relations among officials has not been well defined? he noted.

The Executive Secretary of the Civil Servants Association, Ghana, (CSAG), Mr Smart Chigabatia, has also noted that the reshuffle should have been aimed at weeding out the inefficiency from the system.

He said the reshuffle has come with formidable transfers of people who otherwise were seen to be doing well at their ministries.

Mr Chigabatia, sited the transfer of Mr Kwadwo Baah Wiredu for instance from Ministry of Local Government to Education.