The Minister of State for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has debunked allegations that President John Dramani Mahama has appointed over 100 individuals as presidential staffers.
According to him, the actual number stands at 30, consisting of 27 presidential staffers and 3 directors, which is significantly lower than in previous administrations.
His clarification comes in response to claims made by Samuel Abu Jinapor, the Member of Parliament for Damongo, who accused the president of failing to uphold his commitment to a lean government. Jinapor suggested that Mahama had exceeded the promised 60 ministers and had secretly appointed over 100 staffers at the presidency.
However, speaking at a press conference on Friday, March 7, 2025, Kwakye Ofosu dismissed these assertions, stating that every presidential staffer appointed had been publicly announced.
“Everybody who has been appointed as a presidential staffer has been named in a statement signed by me. So, currently, there are 27 presidential staffers. All of them were publicly announced, unlike in the past when we only learned of them when the president submitted a list of presidential staff to Parliament,” he explained.
He further clarified that, in addition to the 27 staffers, three individuals had been appointed as directors to assist with specific interventions by the president. However, these directors do not hold the ranking of presidential staffers and are instead classified as presidential aides.
“If you add it to the list of staffers, there are just 30 people. Beyond that, no other staffers or presidential aides have been appointed,” Kwakye Ofosu stressed.
Samuel Abu Jinapor had raised concerns over the growing size of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, arguing that evaluating the true scale of government should go beyond counting ministers and deputies.
His comments came in response to Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu, who had earlier praised President Mahama for maintaining the smallest ministerial team in Ghana’s Fourth Republic, governing with only 60 ministers.
Jinapor, however, argued that while the number of ministers may be lower, the overall size of the administration, including presidential staffers, should be taken into account when assessing government efficiency and fiscal responsibility.
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