The Honorary Vice President of IMANI Africa, Bright Simmons, has characterised President John Mahamaβs decision to reduce the number of ministries from 30 to 23 as more of a response to public sentiment than a genuine step toward government efficiency.
In an article titled The Stressful Difference between Cutting Ministries & Cutting Costs in Ghana, he delved into the deeper implications of such restructuring, cautioning that it may not translate to significant cost savings.
βCutting down the number of ministries and ministers is thus an exercise in βreading the sentimentsβ of the public, and in being βresponsive,ββ Bright Simmons wrote, βand not about lean and efficient government reforms per se.
According to Bright Simmons, the publicβs disdain for a bloated government largely stems from optics.
The people just donβt like seeing presidents appoint a large number of ministers because it βfeelsβ and βlooksβ quite βobscene,ββ he explained.
The reduction, therefore, serves as a symbolic gesture aimed at portraying a listening and responsive government.
Bright Simmons also shed light on the often arbitrary process of merging or separating government ministries.
Referencing past administrations, he noted that decisions to cluster certain sectors have always been inconsistent and seldom explained.
βIn the 2000s, the Kufuor government decided that βyouth and sportsβ belonged with βeducation.β The Mills government disagreed,β Bright Simmons noted, adding that similar inconsistencies persist.
He humorously admitted that he, too, could express subjective opinions about ministry alignments. βLooking at the new list, I might argue that βwater resourcesβ fit best with βland and natural resourcesβ due to similar concessions and control issues. And that the same ministry should handle βenvironment.ββ
The Real Cost Drivers
Bright Simmons argued that while the public may applaud the trimming of ministries, the real cost drivers in government remain unaddressed.
Ministries are merely the tip of the iceberg,β he observed.
βAgencies like the Police, Ghana Educational Service, and Ghana Revenue Authority are far heftier.β
He stated that state-owned enterprises like the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) have a far greater impact on spending efficiency than ministerial titles.
Simmons questioned whether the reduction in ministries would lead to actual savings.
βWould there be less spending on bureaucracy across the government as a whole following the reduction in the number of ministries? Where are the financial numbers to prove this?β
He argued that past reductions have not resulted in lower costs. βYou might be surprised to see that the expense tends to increase year on year regardless.β
Big Ministries, Bigger Budgets
Highlighting the disproportionate budgets of some ministries, Simmons noted that cutting smaller ministries barely dents overall expenditure.
βFrankly, ministries like Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, which received less than $5 million a year, and the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, which gets barely $600,000 a year, wonβt be missed by anyone,β he remarked.
However, he pointed out large ministries such as Education and Health are the real budget giants. βEducation gets a cool $2 billion a year, more than 20% of the total government budget in most years,β he revealed.
βIf you really want to make major savings in government spending, you could introduce reforms in health and education that would eclipse the savings made from abolishing five ministries.β
A Call for Real Reform
Simmons suggested that true reform requires more than cosmetic changes.
βIf youβre talking about truly abolishing ministries, it means sacking workers and auctioning V8s. Not the Ghana-style ministerial collapses in which everything remains as before except the few titles dropped,β he argued.
He stated that significant savings would only come from addressing debt management, capital expenditure, and procurement.
Ministerial perks should be on the list somewhere, for sureβperhaps on page 17 of the memo, in between stationery and guest house management,β Bright Simmons quipped.
In conclusion, Simons acknowledged the challenges facing the government.
βThe issues plenty. And Mr. President has only four years. So, the work dey. Serious! But God too dey.β
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