Economist Prof. Godfred Bokpin says he does not expect President John Dramani Mahama to maintain the same number of staff members at the Jubilee House as former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo did during his tenure.
Speaking ahead of the 2025 budget presentation on Channel One TV on Tuesday, March 11, Prof. Bokpin argued that such a move would amount to wasteful spending.
He pointed out that the 2023 Appropriation Act revealed that a significant portion of revenue from the E-Levy was allocated to the presidency, which he described as inefficient.
“If you check the 2023 Appropriation Act, the budgetary allocation to the office of the president, which they call government machinery, took almost all the money we were getting from E-Levy. That is not an efficient way,” he told host Vivian Kai Lokko.
“So when we say we can remove these taxes and we can close the gap from expenditure rationalization, it is possible and we can demonstrate that.
“I am not expecting this current president to have the staff strength that the previous government had at Jubilee House. No, that is not efficient, that doesn’t add to productivity. That is waste. That is what we call wasteful spending.”
Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Government Communication, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has reaffirmed President Mahama’s commitment to maintaining a lean government, ensuring that the number of presidential staffers remains well below the 336 recorded under former President Akufo-Addo.
In an earlier interview with Bernard Avle on Channel One TV’s The Point of View, Ofosu emphasized the government’s decision to cap ministerial appointments at 60, questioning the rationale behind the previous administration’s over 100 ministers.
“There were 333 or 336 political appointees at the presidency under Akufo-Addo. As I speak with you, there are not more than 50 at the presidency,” he stated.
“It will not go beyond a certain limit. It will go nowhere near the 336 we had under [former] President Akufo-Addo. There too, there’s going to be some serious cutting of numbers in order to ensure that we don’t go beyond reasonable limits.”
He also dismissed suggestions for President Mahama to reconsider his decision to cap ministerial appointments at 60.