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The Minority caucus in Parliament has described as unprecedented, the size of the Executive. They said the number of ministers named by President Akufo-Addo for his government was too high.

The Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu while contributing to a motion on the approval of some minister-nominees on Friday [February 10, 2017], said they were concerned about the implications of the size of the government on the public purse. He said, “as we approve this, we would have been approving 36 ministers so far.

That is unparalleled, that is unprecedented; it is the largest under the fourth republic. When we add the ten regional ministers, it will be 46. That will mean that it would have an effect on the public purse. We are concerned about it.” Parliament on Thursday completed the vetting of ministers, with the vetting of the minister nominees for the Fisheries and Aquaculture and Information portfolios.

25 of the ministers vetted out of the 25 of the ministers vetted out of the 36, have already been sworn in, though one of the ministers, Otiko Djaba, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, has been faced with a suit by Minority MPs over her approval in spite of not doing her one-year mandatory national service.

A section of the public have criticized the Akufo-Addo government over the seemingly large size of government after the President made announcements of new ministerial portfolios and offices, some of which, hitherto, never existed. They expressed concerns that these new creations will mean more government spending in acquisition of resources for the new appointees and payment of salaries.

A five-member committee chaired by Prof. Dora Francisca Edu-Buandoh to review the conditions of service and emoluments for article 71 office holders including Presidents, Ministers and Members of Parliament, recently recommended the following monthly salaries for the various ministerial offices; Cabinet Minister (MP) – GH¢16,423 Cabinet Minster (Non-MP) – GH¢ 16,195 Minister of State (MP) – GH¢ 15,967 Minister of State (Non-MP) – GH¢ 15,739 Regional Minister (MP) – GH¢ 15,967 Regional Minister (Non-MP) – GH¢15,511 Deputy Minster (MP) – GH¢ 14,826 Deputy Regional Minister (MP) – GH¢14,598 Deputy Minister (Non-MP) – GH¢ 14,369 Dep. Regional Minster (Non-MP) – GH¢ 142,142.

The recommendation was approved by Parliament to take effect from January 2017.