Chief Executive Officer of the National Youth Authority (NYA), Pius Enam Hadzide, has condemned recent comments made by the German Ambassador, Daniel Krull, regarding the need for President Akufo-Addo to downsize his government. Hadzide believes that such comments indicate that Ghana’s development partners, including Germany, do not have the country’s best interests at heart.

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During a press conference, Ambassador Krull had questioned why Ghana was pleading for assistance from the international community while still maintaining a government that is larger than Germany’s. He suggested that there were certain expenditures that could be lowered substantially without hurting economic development, and called on the government to take action in this regard.

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Responding to Krull’s comments, Hadzide noted that the government was already committed to finding the right balance between public expenditure and revenue. He also questioned which areas of expenditure should be cut, asking whether it should be in the road sector, education, or health.

Hadzide went on to say that Ghana’s development partners should appreciate the severity of the country’s problems

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and the need to jump-start development if it is to compete on equal terms. He argued that if these partners had their way, Africa would be a production force for them to be feeding their economies, and suggested that Ghana should take its own decisions based on its own context.

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President Akufo-Addo had appointed a total of 123 Ministers and Deputies during his first administration, but he subsequently reduced the number of Ministers to not more than 85, as promised to Ghanaians. However, there have been calls for further reductions in light of the current economic situation.

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