A member of the Communication Team of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Padmore Baffour Agyapong has opined that Ghana can function and progress much more with less than twenty (20) ministries.
In an interview on Happy 98.9 FM’s Epa Hoa Daben political show with Afrifa-Mensah, the politician said, “If we’re being honest with ourselves, we can all agree that we don’t need more than 20 ministries. I have listed the most essential ministries and can say that beyond 2020, Ghana needs not more than 20 ministries.”
According to him, most ministries in Ghana can be consolidated under a single umbrella and believes doing so will not only save the country more money but also increase efficiency and effectiveness.
He championed the need to amend the constitution to convert the position of Regional Ministers to Regional Chief Executives (RCEs). “Reasoning that all Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) will report to them and they report to the Local Government Minister.”
The politician believes doing this will save Ghana (thirty-two) 32 Ministerial and Deputy Ministerial positions.
Listing the twenty (20) proposed Ministries Ghana needs, he said, “Number 20 can be debated but we definitely need our traditional systems on board.”
- Ministry of Education
- Ministry of Infrastructure Dev’t (roads + work & Housing)
- Ministry of Health (include WaSH)
- Ministry of Social Protection (gender + children)
- Ministry of Environment & Natural Resources (forestry, land, mining, water resources)
- Ministry of Agriculture
- Ministry of Communication & Information
- Ministry of Transport (rail, aviation, maritime, land)
- Ministry of Youth & Sports
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Partnerships
- Ministry of Energy
- Ministry of Defence & Interior
- Ministry of Justice
- Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning
- Ministry of Trade, Industry & Tourism
- Ministry of Local Government (include rural & zongo development)
- Ministry of Employment & Labour
- Ministry of Innovation & Special Initiative
- Ministry of Monitoring & Evaluation
- Ministry of Chieftaincy & Religion