John Dramani Mahama, the NDC flagbearer, has stated that he would shut down the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources if he is elected President. He said the Ministry does not offer any benefits to the nation.
Mahama said despite a ministry designated for ensuring that the country is clean, the is even more dirt than when such a ministry was not present.
“We will close down the Ministry of Sanitation, one, to reduce expenditure and two I don’t see any use. The country is dirtier than when there was no Ministry of Sanitation,” told a gathering.
Mahama argued that the Ministry of Sanitation has not than anything better than when that responsibility was under the Local Government Ministry. He argued that apart from the ministry being ineffective, merging it will also cut down on government expenditure.
“Indeed, this country was cleaner when sanitation was under Local Government than as a standalone Ministry and we will close that Ministry and we will take the Sanitation schedule back to Local Government because we want to reduce government expenditure.”
But it is not just the Dr. Freda Prempeh-led ministry alone that will be shut down. The former President said instead of having three separate ministries for Transport, Aviation and Railways, they will be merged. Also, the Ministry of Communication currently headed by Ursula Owusu would be merged with the Information Ministry.
“It is not only the Sanitation Ministry, in Transport, Aviation and Railways, we are going to close them down and send them back to the Transport Ministry. We are going to combine Communications and Information again. So we want to reduce the number of ministries.”
Mahama was speaking at a Special Public Lecture at the Wisconsin International University College in Accra on Wednesday, April 4, 2024.