‘I will run a skin-tight government’ -Independent presidential candidate promises

A presidential aspirant in the 2020 general elections has promised to run a slim government if given the nod.

Kofi Koranteng says his government will not have more than 10 ministries.

He said when given the chance to be president he will run a “skin-tight” government.

His priority ministries are Agriculture, Energy, Employment, Entrepreneurial development, Finance, Foreign Affairs, Health, Interior, Trade and Industry, and Justice ministries.

Speaking at a presidential debate organized by IMANI Africa and Joy FM, the aspirant insisted that numbers do not reflect efficiency

“Efficiency is what gives you effectiveness. Because we are coming in with a science-based data-driven human-centred government we know exactly what needs to be done,” Mr. Koranteng said.

President Nana Akufo-Addo has come under constant criticism for what has been described as a huge size of government. At the beginning of his tenure, he had appointed 110 ministers and deputy minister. When the six new districts were created in 2018, the number of ministers and their deputies shot up to 123.

The President justified the size of his administration, insisting that the work demanded more hands and the end of his tenure would vindicate his decision.

Among the new portofolios are the Sanitation and Water Resources Ministry, Special Development Initiative, Regional Re-organization, and Zongo development.

But the aspiring presidential candidate says “they are needless”

Other aspirants in the debate–Marrick Kofi Gane, Samuel Ofori Ampofo, Carl Ebo Morgan and Onipayede Osson Teye agreed to the assertion.

The size of government debate

The size of government has often debate. President J.A Kufuor while in opposition criticised the size of Rawlings’s government.

Rawlings’  in his second term from 1997 to 2001 had about 70 ministers. When Kufuor took over in 2001, he appointed more than 80 ministers and later apologised for underestimating the number of hands he needed to steer the ship.

The then-candidate Nana Akufo-Addo also needled the late President Mills for appointing 74 Ministers and deputies, which he described as bloated in May 2009.