GhanaWeb Feature by Ishmael Batoma
One of the main campaign promises of President John Dramani Mahama was that he was going to work with only 60 ministers, including deputy ministers.
As a first step to achieving this promise, President Mahama, two days after he took office, reduced the number of central government ministries from 30 to 23, through an Executive Instrument (E.I.), which either completely scrapped some of the existing ministries or merged them with others.
Fast forward, the president nominated 23 persons to lead his 23 ministries, some of whom have been approved. The president also nominated 16 people as regional ministers and four (4) people as Ministers of State.
He has now nominated 13 deputy ministers, which leaves him with only 4 more nominations to make if he intends to keep his promise of working with only 60 ministers and deputy ministers.
Per the nominations made so far, Mahama may likely not appoint deputy regional ministers, as has been done in the past.
This means that there are now 10 central government ministries without deputy ministers, with the president having only four nominations left.
Ministries that have been filled with deputy ministers:
As indicated earlier, President Mahama has nominated 13 people for appointment as deputy ministers to some 13 ministries.
The ministries that have received deputy ministerial nominations include the Ministry of Finance; Ministry of Interior; Ministry of Defence; Ministry of Education; Ministry of Energy and Green Transition; Ministry of Roads and Highways; and the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice.
The remaining are the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources; Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Religious Affairs; Ministry of Works, Housing, and Water Resources; Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Creative Arts; Ministry of Food and Agriculture; and the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness, and Industry.
Ministries that have not been filled with deputy ministers:
The 10 ministries that have not received deputy minister nominations include the Ministry of Health; the Ministry of Transport; the Ministry of Sports and Recreation; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry of Environment, Science, and Technology; and the Ministry of Communication, Digital Technology, and Innovations.
The rest are the Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment; the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection; Ministry of Labour, Jobs, and Employment; as well as the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
The question now is; Which of these ministries would be ‘lucky enough’ to receive one of the four deputy ministerial nominations outstanding from the president?
Here is a brief analysis by GhanaWeb of the ministries that are likely to receive the nomination and the ministries that would not.
Ministries Mahama is likely to give deputy ministers to:
Ministry of Health:
The ministries that are likely to receive nominations are those that relatively have huge responsibilities.
The Ministry of Health is certainly one of the ministries with huge tasks, taking care of a critical sector of the economy — health.
The health ministry, whose responsibility is to ensure that every Ghanaian is healthy and prevent disease outbreaks in the country, among other tasks, could definitely use a deputy minister.
The ministry has very important agencies under it, including the Ghana Health Service and the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), and has direct supervisory responsibility over hospitals in the country, including the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and the other teaching hospitals.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is in charge of the implementation of Ghana’s foreign policy, would almost certainly need a deputy minister.
The minister has the huge task of supervising all of Ghana’s diplomatic missions abroad, including embassies, high commissions, and consulates, and promoting Ghana’s interests in the international community.
It is also responsible for Ghana’s international relations, regional integration, and running the country’s passport system, and would certainly benefit from a deputy minister.
Ministry of Labour, Jobs, and Employment:
The Ministry of Labour, Jobs, and Employment is also likely to get a deputy ministerial nomination from President Mahama.
The ministry would be in charge of promoting employment opportunities, decent jobs, and harmonious relations with the labour unions.
The sector’s minister has to deal with the powerful labour unions in the country, like the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), the Public Sector Workers Union (PSWU), and the Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana (CLOGSAG), on issues such as salaries and other benefits of workers.
This job might be too much for one person to handle.
Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection:
The Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, which is responsible for promoting gender equality, protecting children’s rights, and ensuring social protection for vulnerable groups in the country, is also likely to have a deputy minister.
This is because of the broad scope of the work of the ministry. The ministry has a department in every district in the country. It also collaborates with a number of international organisations on human rights issues.
Given how issues of human rights have become a global issue, President John Dramani Mahama is likely to appoint a deputy for that sector.
Ministries Mahama is likely to ignore:
The remaining ministries are not likely to have deputy ministers because of the limited scope of their roles and the fact that most of them have somewhat similar roles.
1. The Ministry of Transport, which is responsible for infrastructural development and service delivery in the transport industry, for instance, is not likely to have a deputy.
The Ministry of Roads and Highways would handle issues with road infrastructure in the country, meaning the transport tasks would deal with issues on service delivery — including the construction of road transport among others.
2. The Ministry of Sports and Recreation, which used to be the Ministry of Youth and Sports, is also likely not to have a deputy minister due to the creation of a ministry to handle issues of the youth.
3. Another ministry that would likely not have a deputy is the Ministry of Environment, Science, and Technology. This is because of the creation of the Minister of State in charge of Climate Change and the role of the Minister of Energy and Green Transition.
4. The Ministry of Communication, Digital Technology, and Innovations might also not have a deputy due to the existence of the Minister of State in charge of Communications. In the previous NDC government, the ministry took on the role of the scrapped Ministry of Information, whose role would now be played by the Minister of State in charge of Communications.
5. One of the ministries some governance experts wanted folded was the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture because of the existence of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. So, almost certainly, the fisheries ministry may not have a deputy.
6. The Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment, which was created out of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, is also likely not to have a deputy because of the existence of its ‘mother ministry’ and the Minister of Labour.
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