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North Tongu Member of Parliament Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
North Tongu Member of Parliament (MP) Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has expressed concern about the annual report on the staff of the presidential office submitted to Parliament by the administration led by Akufo-Addo.
According to the deputy who is also a high-ranking member of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, various irregularities in the report make his credibility questionable.
“It is significantly strange to note that, compared to the 2018 Annual Report, several Ministers of State are missing from the 2019 Annual Report.” Ministers like Yaw Osafo Marfo, Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, Dan K. Botwe, Mavis Hawa Koomson, Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei, and Prof. Gyan Baffuor do not appear at all.
“In fact, only five state ministers appear in the report raising credibility issues and if Parliament presents itself with accurate data, especially in this case, there would be no opportunity for the IMF to seek redress.”
In a post on his Facebook wall, Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwa also raised red flags over the names of different people who have been assigned the same portfolio.
“Even more troubling are the misty designations. For example, we have Duke Ofori-Atta featured in the report as “Program Director”. Then there is Amina Sammo, who is “Program Director”. There is Ouborr K. Kutando, Director of Special Project and then Alexander Gyedu, who is “Director of Special Projects”.
“In addition to the controversial portfolio of the Minister of State for Public Procurement held by Sarah Adjoa Sarfo, there is a ‘Director of Procurement Compliance’ in the person of Samuel Kwaku Adu. Similarly, although Alhaji Ibrahim Mohammed Awal continues to function as Minister For Business Development, the taxpayer is most burdened with a “Director of Business Support” named as Franklin Owusu-Karikari.
He reiterated his concern about the current size of the President’s government, which is the largest in the country’s history.
“It is deeply disturbing to note that President Akufo-Addo cannot seem to avoid it. Despite widespread public outrage over her penchant for an elephantine-sized government; The number of presidential employees increased from 28 in 2018 to 36 in 2019.
Furthermore, the list of junior political candidates shot up from 254 in 2018 to 270 in 2019.
“At this rate, advocacy to amend Act 463 to put a limit on the number of people designated by politics who should be named and who some of us have defended for years becomes even more relevant now than ever.
“Perhaps we should ask President Akufo-Addo to help us better understand exactly what he meant by protecting the public purse.
“While I am looking forward to the debate in Parliament on this report, can I say that I strongly identify with those who ask the government to reduce its size taking into account the state of our economy,” he concluded.
