Tell the people the sacrifices the government is making

A member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Otchere Darko, has asked government spokespersons to project the sacrifices the presidency has made in solving Ghana’s economic crisis to enable Ghanaians to see and appreciate the efforts of the administration.

According to Mr Otchere Darko, the “government is making a lot of sacrifices in order to resolve the challenges the economy is facing at the moment”.

His comments come after the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) suggested some steps to the government to deal with the escalating economic challenges.

IEA, led by its Director of Research, Dr John Kwakye asked President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to consider reducing the number of ministers serving in his government to save cost.

The move according to Dr Kwakye “is one of the ways of reducing government expenditure during these difficult times the county is going through”.

“Take urgent steps to reduce expenditure whose level and composition remain problematic.

“The measures should include the following; restructure ministries and reduce the number from 30 to 20 reduce the number of ministers from 80 to 56 (Including 16 regional ministers),” IEA stated in a statement issued on March 18, 2022.

However, Mr Gabby Otchere Darko in a tweet said that “I am listening and reading good suggestions to government on how to deal with the fiscal difficulties and a lot hinges on cutting down on government expenditure. But the fact is government has drastically cut down expenditure in several areas and the MDAs are feeling the pinch”.

The former Danquah Institute Director added that “The Presidency alone, I am told, expenditure has been cut by over 30%. Perhaps, the people must be told more and deliberately so on the sacrifices being made by the Executive.”