Akufo-Addo abolishes 7 Ministries, no Dep Regional Minister appointments

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has abolished seven ministries in his new government. They are the Ministries of Aviation, Business Development, Inner City and Zongo Development, Monitoring and Evaluation, Planning, Regional Re-organisation and Development, and Special Development Initiatives.

Three of the ministries have been realigned to operate from the Presidency, while the other three have been merged to operate under some other Ministries. 

According to a press statement signed and issued Thursday by the Acting Director of Communications at the Presidency, Mr Eugene Arhin, the seven ministries were abolished “because virtually all these special-purpose Ministries have achieved the purposes for which they were established.”

The President has also abolished the office of the Senior Minister, and has announced the appointment of a Minister for Public Enterprises, as well as the non-appointment of deputy regional ministers.

According to the statement, the Minister for Public Enterprises, will be appointed to oversee a major restructuring of the entire state-owned enterprises sector to improve the productivity and profitability of the sector and would operate directly under the Office of the President and not from a Ministry.

It added that a Minister of State has been nominated, and, if approved, will be assigned to the Ministry of Works and Housing, in addition to the substantive Minister, to give special focus to the critical issue of affordable, mass housing, envisaged as one of the priorities of the President's second term.

According to the statement, a new Minister for Energy will be appointed and would be assisted by deputy Ministers, one of whom will be an indigene of the Western Region.

In all, President Akufo-Addo has appointed a total of 30 Ministers, and 16 Regional Ministers, bringing the total number of Ministers to 46, the statement added.

It said out of the 46, eight are women — six Ministers and two Regional Ministers.

According to the statement, the President submitted the names of the nominated Ministers to Parliament on Thursday.

It added that at an appropriate date, the President, in accordance with the Constitution, would submit to Parliament the list of all Deputy Ministers of State for its approval.

Mergers and realignments 

The statement added that the activities of the Inner City and Zongo Development Ministry would be brought under the Presidency, with a Co-ordinator appointed to supervise, as well as exercise oversight responsibility over the Zongo Development Fund.

It said the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development had been renamed as Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development and would be tasked with overseeing the outstanding activities of the erstwhile Regional Re-organisation and Development Ministry.

Matters to do with the Special Development Initiatives Ministry will be co-ordinated from the Presidency, as will be those of the Monitoring and Evaluation Ministry.

The Aviation Ministry is to be merged into an enlarged Ministry of Transport, with activities of the Ministry of Planning also being incorporated under the Ministry of Finance.

The Business Development Ministry is to be merged with the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Appreciation

According to the statement, President Akufo-Addo on Wednesday, January, 20 and Thursday, January, 21, held one-on-one meetings with the new Ministers-designate, as well as with his first-term Ministers who would not transition into the new government, to break the news to them.

It said the President congratulated the new ministers-designate on their nominations and expressed his expectation that they would be promptly approved by Parliament, to allow them to start work forthwith.

He also expressed appreciation to the outgone ministers and assured them of possible roles to be played in the larger governmental structure, and wished them the best of luck in their future endeavours.