Capping Ministers Of State The Best Way To Protect Public Purse

The Member of Parliament for Wa central constituency, Rashid Pelpuo has supported calls to limit presidents from appointing more than 65 ministers of state.

Speaking on Citi TV Breakfast Daily, Rashid Pelpuo said limiting the number will protect the public purse.

“The public sector has abuse of resources and state funds. The reason being that it is a place where people go and imagine that this is not my money, it is government's money. They misuse my money and nobody cares about it. When you see this thing happening in the public sector, and people not feeling the responsibility then you begin to question yourself.

Meanwhile, Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) has called for a bipartisan consultation to cap the number of Ministers to be appointed by Presidents in the future.

This follows the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu’s call for legislation that will bind Presidents not to appoint more than 65 ministers.

Speaking to Citi News, Research and Programmes Officer for CDD, Mohammed Awal said the authority of future Presidents to create new ministries must also be checked.

“If it is a broader institutional reform that they are calling on the powers of the President to limit, then I think that is a good call. There has to be a certain understanding about what we think is going forward from our experience in the last 20 years about how government appointments are done, particularly ministerial appointments. Mind you; it is not only the appointment.

“It is the authority’s discretion to create new ministries, to collapse and create as well. We can have broader institutional reform debate around those specific laws and regulations and rules in our constitution that grants the President the freedom to do that and then we have a consensus. That is one thing I will support, but it has to be inclusive, it has to be something that key stakeholders are involved, and key citizens are involved, and we come to a certain understanding about what we think is appropriate regarding the number of Ministers that we should have.”