Mahama vows to slash ministerial positions to reduce Ghana’s debt crisis
Former president and presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama, has said that he intends to reduce the number of political appointees should he win Ghana's December 7 election.
Mahama, who lost the 2016 and 2020 elections to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, described the current number of government ministers as "excessive."
In a Global South World exclusive, the former head of state expressed that the country's challenges have been made worse by high government expenditures under the Akufo-Addo administration. Mahama shared that the utility bills and housing facilities provided for political appointees compounded the country's debts.
"I mean, at a point, this government had 125 ministers. You know. And I mean, that clearly is excessive. Even now they have 87 ministers. And so we have promised that we're going to cut that down to 60 ministers. We're going to cut down the number of political appointees. I mean, when you do that, you're cutting down the number of houses you have to provide for these appointees. You are cutting down the number of vehicles you have to buy for them. You're cutting down the amount of fuel they have to use. You are cutting down the electricity and utility bills that you normally provide for such people," he said.
Beyond cutting down government expenditure, Mahama, who is contesting the presidential election for the fourth time, suggested that Ghana needs a "total reset" to have economic stability.
"We've hit a dead end. Our economy is in crisis, and everything else has a linkage to the economy. Inflation is up," Mahama said. "When you use your phone and it gets frozen, what do you do? You reset it; you restart it. And so we need to restart.”
As of July 2024, Ghana's finance minister, Mohammed Amin Adam, announced that the country's debt had shot up from the GH¢658 billion ($42.9 billion) recorded in February 2024 to GH¢742 billion (US$50.9 billion).
Watch the full interview below:
