Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee (CRC), Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh, has defended the committee’s proposal to cap the number of ministers and require parliamentary justification for any excess appointments.
Speaking on The Point of View on Channel One TV on Wednesday, January 7, Prof. Prempeh said Ghana has a history of limiting the size of government and should return to that discipline as part of ongoing constitutional reforms.
“We capped it in 1979. We capped it even under the 1969 Constitution. So we’ve capped it before,” he noted. “Our numbers are too many. It just makes no sense.”
Prof. Prempeh explained that the committee’s proposal draws directly from the structure of the 1992 Constitution, which provides that Cabinet should consist of 19 ministers in addition to the Vice President. According to him, that figure should serve as a guiding benchmark for the overall size of government.
“The Constitution says Cabinet must consist of 19 ministers plus the Vice President, so some factor of 19,” he said. “So we say, how about 19 times three? There must be some reason it says 19. Let’s give you three of that number and then that is it.”
Under the CRC proposal, the total number of ministers would be capped at a maximum of 57. However, Prof. Prempeh said the committee has built in limited flexibility to accommodate exceptional circumstances, while strengthening parliamentary oversight.
“We have allowed a small opening to say that if you can justify to Parliament that you need to appoint beyond that number, then for each additional minister, you have to go to Parliament to justify it separately,” he explained.
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