President John Dramani Mahama has reaffirmed his commitment to running a lean government, revealing that his administration currently has only 30 political appointees at the presidency.
His statement comes in response to allegations from Damongo MP Samuel Abu Jinapor, who claimed Mahama had exceeded his promised limit of 60 ministers and appointed over 100 staffers at the presidency.
Addressing the issue during the swearing-in ceremony of 13 deputy ministers, President Mahama emphasized his administration’s conscious effort to keep appointments minimal.
“The same commitment to composing a lean government has found expression in the appointments made at the presidency so far,” he stated. “I have appointed 27 presidential staffers to various roles and three persons as directors of important governmental initiatives, bringing the total number of political appointees so far to 30. This list is pending approval from the Council of State.”
Comparing his administration’s staffing to that of the previous government, Mahama highlighted a stark contrast.
“At the last count, there were 336 political appointees at the presidency under the previous government. While we are in the process of recruiting supporting staff to enable the full functioning of our presidency, the numbers will come nowhere near the army of people that were hired under the previous administration,” he said.
The clarification seeks to dispel concerns about excessive government appointments and reinforce Mahama’s stance on efficient governance.
