Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko
A former Executive Director of the Danquah Institute, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, has said that President Akufo-Addo is not as concerned about the size of his government as he is about the effective delivery of government’s development agenda.
The government has come under intense criticism and pressure after it was revealed that it had 998 staff working at the presidency alone, 200 more than what the previous John Mahama government had.
Many said the large staff size at the seat of government betrayed the president’s pledge to ‘protect the public purse’, which suggested that he would run a smaller but a more efficient government.
But according to Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, who is a close associate of the president, “Akufo-Addo has never put lean government before a government that delivers.”
In a Facebook post reacting to the raging debate over the increasing government size, he said,
“He [Akufo-Addo] told me point blankly that our situation in Ghana calls more for a well-resourced government machinery that can deliver….To drum home the point, he said the whole of Brong Ahafo had one senior prosecutor when he was appointed AG.. The consequences of that is the delay and denial of justice to both the accused and victims of crime. I want to focus on the delivery machinery, on results.”
While stressing that Akufo-Addo had never promised to run a ‘lean’ government as some have claimed, the lawyer said, “I don’t think he has changed. None of his 3 Manifestos stressed on the concept of small government. To him the capacity and ability to deliver is what matters most. Competent delivery is after all, cost-effective.
Presidency has 998 staff
It emerged last Friday that the government had set another record of having the highest number of staff at the presidency 998 after setting an initial of one having highest number of Ministers and their deputies, 110 in all.
In a report the Presidency submitted to Parliament in accordance with Presidential Office Act, 1993 (Act 463), to make known the former’s staffing position, it indicated that all staff including Ministers of State, Presidential Staffers, junior political appointees, and others including domestic and household workers and civil servants were a total of 998.
-Citifmonline