General News of Friday, 5 April 2013
Source: Joy Online
Economist and NPP Member of Parliament for New Juaben South constituency in the Eastern Region, Dr. Mark Asibey-Yeboah, has described President John Mahama as insensitive for appointing more than 85 ministers.
He says expenditure needed to run even a single ministry is so huge that it was unfair to create 85 ministries.
According to him, monies being spent on some of the new ministries could be channeled into development projects.
Asibey-Yeboah noted that government must direct the huge expenditure for these ministries to institutions like the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the District Assembly Common Fund which are in arrears.
Speaking on Wednesday 3rd April on Adom FM and Asempa FM, the MP said the Government must be prudent in the use of state funds.
He stated that Ex-President John Agyekum Kufuor appointed 82 ministers in his administration while the late President John Evans Atta Mills also appointed 74, which are small compared John Mahama’s.
In his view, no government needs more than 55 ministers to support the President.
He also said the government must reintroduce the National Identification Scheme (NIS) to help increase the revenue stream for the government.
Touching on corruption at Ghana’s borders, he noted the various entry points generate huge amounts of money which the sector ministry must ensure does not remain in the pockets of corrupt officials.
He suggested the use of CCTV cameras at the various ports and borders to monitor the activities of customs officers to fight corruption.
He says if the sector ministry installs CCTV cameras at the ports, it can increase revenue in the sector by 30 to 40 percent.
Dr. Asibey-Yeboah noted that most of the custom officers are not applying the rules and regulations of the profession which he believes the CTTV cameras will check.