Mahama Ayariga, the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, defended the administration’s decision to operate with a smaller number of ministers and deputy ministers, saying the arrangement is part of a broader effort to manage Ghana’s finances judiciously.
The Bawku Central lawmaker said the current administration deliberately works with fewer ministers than the previous New Patriotic Party government. He made the remarks after the Minority in Parliament raised concerns that some ministers were reluctant to allow their deputies to appear before the House to answer questions.
Responding to the Minority’s query, Ayariga rejected the accusation, explaining that the current government does not have enough deputy ministers across all ministries to make such an arrangement possible. “Not all ministers have deputies now, so the argument that ministers are not allowing their deputies to come and answer questions is not true,” he said. “We do not have situations where one minister had as many as three deputy ministers. We do not have that luxury. We are managing the economy judiciously using as few ministers as possible and so, we don’t have every minister having a deputy to come and answer questions.”
