Bawumia Team: Counting Only Ministers Misses Real Govt Size (Presidential Staffers Hold Deputy Roles)
Dennis Miracles Aboagye, the Bawumia Campaign’s Director of Communications, says that judging the size of the current government only by the number of ministers it has appointed doesn’t give a full picture. He says that even though the government officially hired 56 ministers, this number doesn’t really show how big the government is because many important jobs that would normally be done by ministers or deputy ministers are being done by presidential staffers who work at the Jubilee House.
He said that a lot of political appointees working in the Office of the President have powers and duties that are basically the same as those of deputy ministers, even though they don’t have the official title. He said that because of this, only looking at ministerial appointments misses a big part of governance and the costs that come with it.
Aboagye, who used to work for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, said that the job of a presidential staffer is not just to give advice or attend events. He said, “Based on my time working for former President Akufo-Addo, that job is basically the same as being a deputy minister.” He said that any fair and honest look at the size, structure, and cost of government must go beyond the number of ministers to include political appointees working in the Office of the President, whose duties and power are similar to those of formally appointed ministers and deputy ministers.
