Majority Leader calls for downsizing of Ghana’s oversized public sector workforce

Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has called for a national conversation about the necessity to downsize the number of civil and public servants.

Speaking in an interview on JoyNews’ PM Express, the current number which is about 700,000 is overly large and has an effect on the revenue generated in the country.

He, therefore, called for a national dialogue that would make the populace rationalise and come up with alternative means to ensure that citizens are employed however, will not be a burden on government.

“Can we go on that way? Or do we need to rationalise? So it’s really a serious conversation that we should have at a national level,” he told host Evans Mensah on Tuesday.

Acknowledging the complexity of the issue, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu noted that sudden cuts to the public workforce were not feasible.

He suggested that if significant cuts were to occur, considerations for relocating affected individuals and providing fair compensation must be at the forefront.

While careful not to label the public service as “bloated,” the Suame MP stressed the undeniable impact of its size on the country’s revenue generation.

He advocated for a national dialogue on rationalisation, emphasising that it transcends the current government and is crucial for the long-term development of the nation.

In addition to addressing the public service, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu extended the scope of the discussion to include the number of ministries, ministers, and constituencies, both within the executive and in legislature.

He called for a thorough evaluation of the constant increment in constituencies, urging a collective effort to justify these expansions.

“I’ve insisted that, for instance, the number of ministries that we have, the number of ministers that we have, again is something that should attract serious national conversation. And even the number of constituencies, we don’t limit it to the executive alone, even here in Parliament can we justify the constant increment in constituencies?”