New Patriotic Party (NPP), Deputy General Secretary, Haruna Mohammed, has scored the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) 1/10 for its governance performance.

He criticised what he described as excessive and questionable public spending.

Speaking on Channel One TV on Saturday, January 10, Mr Mohammed challenged the government’s portrayal of itself as running a “lean government”, arguing that the cost of maintaining the current administration contradicts claims of efficiency.

He compared expenditure figures under the present government with those of the previous administration, insisting that while the NDC reduced the number of political appointees, the associated compensation costs have risen significantly.

According to him, figures contained in Appendix 4A of the 2025 Budget show that compensation for the Office of Government Machinery and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) under the so-called lean government amounts to approximately GH₵2.7 billion.

Mr Mohammed contrasted this with what he said was a total compensation cost of about GH₵326.9 million under the previous government, despite persistent criticism of its size.

He argued that the disparity raises serious questions about fiscal discipline and honesty in public communication.

He maintained that the high expenditure undermines the government’s stated commitment to efficiency and prudent management of public resources, warning that such practices risk eroding public trust and delivering little meaningful relief to ordinary Ghanaians.

“If I am to rate them based on governance, I will give them one out of ten. You mentioned lean government. We all know that if you study production management, you look at the number of people you use during the work and the cost associated with that. They promised a lean government, they brought the lean numbers."

"OThat lean number in terms of compensation will spend GH₵2,711,180,829, I am reading from Appendix 4A of the 2025 Budget, Office of Government Machinery and MMDAs expenditure.

"So approximately 2.7 billion for the lean government. While there has been an accusation and pointing of fingers at the previous government for having a huge number, that previous government was spending GH₵326,907,847.”