Ghanaian lecturer Dr Jabir Mohammed has questioned the size of Ghana’s government, arguing that between 10 and 15 ministers should be sufficient to run the country.
The economist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School said Ghana did not need more than 100 ministers, suggesting that a smaller cabinet could reduce the scale of government administration.
“If you have a smaller government like this country, 38 million people, you don’t need about 100 and something ministers to run a country,” he said.
“For me, even if you use like 10 ministers or 15 ministers, you should be able to run this country. You don’t need so much to do that.”
Dr Mohammed also addressed the argument that extending the presidential term could reduce the pressure on governments to spend heavily during election years.
He said an additional year would make little difference unless measures were taken to control election-year spending patterns.
“If you have a longer term and it’s going to help you, one year will not make much difference,” he said.
He called for Ghana to control election-year business cycle effects, under which governments tend to spend more during election years than in non-election years.
