Accra, March 10, 2025 – Renowned economist Prof. Godfred Bokpin has called on President John Dramani Mahama to significantly reduce the number of staff at the Jubilee House, warning that maintaining the previous administration’s staffing levels would lead to wasteful spending.
Speaking ahead of the 2025 budget presentation on Channel One TV, Prof. Bokpin highlighted inefficiencies in government expenditure, pointing out that in 2023, a large portion of revenue from the E-Levy was allocated to the presidency—an approach he deemed unsustainable.
Excessive Spending at the Presidency
📉 “If you check the 2023 Appropriation Act, the budgetary allocation to the presidency—what they call government machinery—took almost all the money from the E-Levy. That is not efficient,” he stated.
🔍 “I am not expecting this current president to have the same staff strength as the previous government at Jubilee House. That doesn’t add to productivity. That is what we call wasteful spending.”
Mahama’s Lean Government Pledge
In response, Minister of State for Government Communication, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, reaffirmed President Mahama’s commitment to running a lean government, ensuring that presidential staff numbers remain far below the 336 recorded under former President Akufo-Addo.
👥 “There were 333 or 336 political appointees at the presidency under Akufo-Addo. As I speak with you, there are not more than 50 at the presidency,” Kwakye Ofosu revealed in an interview on The Point of View.
He further emphasized that the government has capped ministerial appointments at 60, a stark contrast to the over 100 ministers in the previous administration.
⛔ “It will not go beyond a certain limit. It will go nowhere near the 336 we had under President Akufo-Addo. There too, there’s going to be some serious cutting of numbers to stay within reasonable limits,” he added.
This commitment to fiscal discipline aligns with the government’s broader efforts to streamline public spending and boost economic efficiency ahead of the 2025 budget presentation.
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