Information filtering in from the Jubilee House, seat of government, indicates that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will not appoint more than 85 ministers of state in his second term in office.
This, according to a veritable source at the Presidency, is a massive reduction from the 126 Ministers and Deputy Ministers who served in the first term of the Akufo-Addo administration.
THE CUSTODIAN has also gathered that the number of Ministries will reduce from 36 to about 29 and all these would be announced this week.
“The Ministers and Deputy Ministers to be appointed will be a blend of new and old members of the President’s last government. It will be national in character, and the Ministries to be announced by President Akufo-Addo will reinforce his focus for the 2nd term – accelerate job and wealth creation, strengthen the private sector, and see to the rapid development of the country,” the source told this paper.
The deep throat source further indicated that the Members of Parliament (MPs) who served either as Ministers or Deputy Ministers but failed to secure re-election in the parliamentary elections of December 7, 2020, would not be part of the new administration of President Akufo-Addo.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the list of persons to serve as Ministers and Deputy Ministers in the second term of the President, according to the source, will be known in the course of this week.
This, THE CUSTODIAN gleaned, will coincide with the establishment of Appointments Committee of Parliament, which will vet the ministerial nominees for appointment.
Anxiety
Following the swearing in of President Akufo-Addo about two weeks ago and after he designated some persons to serve as his representatives in Ministries, there was anxiety, especially amongst former appointees of Government and the general public, with speculations as to who will new ministers of state.
However, THE CUSTODIAN has gathered that President Akufo-Addo has since his swearing in, has taken a number of significant decisions with regards to his appointments.
One of the decisions taken, according to the information received, is the considerable reduction in the number of Ministers and Deputy Ministers to be announced soon.
President Akufo-Addo, THE CUSTODIAN further learnt, took the decision to take away matters to do with the phenomenon of illegal mining, popularly referred to as ‘galamsey’, from the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, back to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.
The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) has also been dissolved by President Akufo-Addo.
