Former President, John Dramani Mahama, has criticized President Akufo-Addo for failing to downsize his government.
According to him, the size of his government is harming the country’s economy.
He urged the President to make fewer appointments in order to minimize government spending and ease the sufferings Ghanaians are experiencing.
He contends that it will be challenging for the government to keep track of the movements of his appointees, therefore the government’s directive on the use of V8s and V6s by appointees is unworkable, in his opinion.
He inquired about the procedures the government will employ to monitor new hires who use V8 vehicles in Accra and the neighbourhood.
“Unfortunately, in this budget, Ghanaians are slapped with stiff additional taxes and no tangible cuts in expenditure. They just say don’t travel with your V8s. If you are travelling outside Accra, you can use your V8, but don’t use it in town. I mean, who’s going to monitor if you use your V8 or not? Expenditure has increased significantly by 80 billion cedis. It appears we have to accept to live with the excessive bloated size of government at the presidency,” the former President said.
He said this when he addressed the 13th Congregation of the Accra Business School over the weekend.
The Finance Minister during the budget presentation said, “Limited budgetary allocation for the purchase of vehicles. For the avoidance of doubt, the purchase of new vehicles shall be restricted to locally assembled vehicles; Only essential official foreign travel across government including SOEs shall be allowed. No official foreign travel shall be allowed for board members. Accordingly, all government institutions should submit a travel plan for the year 2023 by mid-December of all expected travels to the Chief of Staff.
“All MDAs, MMDAs, and SOEs are directed to reduce fuel allocations to Political Appointees and heads of MDAs, MMDAs, and SOEs by 50%. This directive applies to all methods of fuel allocation including coupons, electronic cards, chit systems, and fuel depots. Accordingly, 50% of the previous year’s (2022) budget allocation for fuel shall be earmarked for official business pertaining to MDAs, MMDAs, and SOEs”.