The Member of Parliament for Anyaa Sowutuom, Dr. Dickson Adomako Kissi has stated that President Akufo-Addo’s ministerial appointments are not necessarily the cause of the fiscal crisis bedeviling the country.

According to him, a careful look at government’s expenditure would reveal that it is rather the capital projects that account for the huge expenditure. He cited the Agenda 111 project as an example.

Speaking on JoyNews’AM Show, the lawmaker, explained that the emoluments of these appointees are nothing compared to monies allocated for government projects.

“I’ll beg Ghanaians to look carefully at the expenditure of government to come to terms with the fact that it is not necessarily these appointments, the Ministers that really account for the huge losses if any. And that argument, anybody should check. If you look at the salaries, even the emoluments changes, for instance, someone like O.B Amoah, it’s not going to be much significant to the extent that we make so much noise about the wrong things,” he explained.

Explaining further, Dr. Kissi is of the view that considering the fact that the country has 16 regions, government could consider channeling resources into only 16 other than 111 of its Agenda 111 project, saying completing the project as planned initially costs about $1.5 billion.

He says focusing on only 16 of the projects would enhance its total completion within a short period of time.

The legislator’s comments come after President Akufo-Addo made changes to leadership within the various ministries after months of calls for reshuffling. The changes include appointment of new Ministers and one reshuffle.

Despite the change, some Ghanaians, including people from the opposition party have argued that the President still has failed to heed calls for downsizing his government in order to cut down on expenditure in times of economic crisis.

However, Dr. Kissi says that a single hospital under the Agenda 111 project is far more expensive than an additional appointee, adding that Ghanaians “seem to hold on to the employee thing,” meanwhile infrastructure projects are the most costly and draining.