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As part of celebrating its 120 achievements, the government, through the Information Services Department, posted a flyer with a narrative about achieving a promise of a lean government. DUBAWA intends to subject the narrative to critical scrutiny.
The government agency circulated a flyer on its Facebook page claiming that the ruling party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has cut the number of presidential staff from 336 to 30 and the country’s ministries from 30 to 23.
This flyer, which was reshared several times on the agency’s X account, claimed former president Nana Akufo-Addo’s New Patriotic Party(NPP) administration ballooned the size of his government by increasing the number of ministries to 30 and presidential staffers to 336.
The post, which celebrates Mahama’s 120 days in office, suggests that the sitting president has taken a markedly different approach from his predecessor.
The hashtag #120dayssocialcontractdelivered references Mahama’s governance promise to run a lean administration within his first 120 days in office.
As of May 15, 2025, the flyer had attracted 213 shares and over 110 comments on Facebook and appeared on X here, here, and here.
As part of efforts to promote truth in public discourse, DUBAWA decided to investigate the two claims and the narrative accompanying them.
Claim 1: Nana Akufo-Addo’s New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration increased the number of ministries to 30
According to official government records and a 2021 press release from the Office of the President, the number of ministries under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was streamlined from 36 during President Akufo-Addo’s first term to 28 in his second term.
This contradicts the claim in the flyer, which inaccurately states that the NPP created 30 ministries.
The 28 ministries include longstanding portfolios in finance, education, health, and interior, and restructured or newly introduced ministries. For instance, the Ministry of Energy emerged after a merger involving the former Power Ministry, while Lands and Natural Resources remained distinct entities.
During the first term, new ministries were created, including the Ministry for Business Development, the Ministry for Monitoring and Evaluation, the Ministry for Regional Reorganisation and Development, the Ministry for Special Development Initiatives, the Ministry for Zongo and Inner City Development, and the Ministry of Railway Development.
However, many of these were either realigned or scrapped in the President’s second term, leading to the official reduction in the total number of ministries.
The flyer’s claim not only inflates the count by two but also overlooks the realignments and reductions acknowledged in the 2021 press release, thereby misleadingly suggesting a more expansive administrative structure than was officially maintained.
Verdict: Misleading. The flyer overstates the number of ministries under the Akufo-Addo administration, claiming 30 instead of the officially recorded 28.
Claim 2: Nana Akufo-Addo’s New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration employed 336 presidential staffers, while Mahama had only 30.
Data available via the Parliamentary Repository presents different data.
According to official records submitted to Parliament by the Office of the President, 44 senior presidential staffers were appointed during President Akufo-Addo’s administration.
These included core presidential advisers, directors, and secretaries. Additionally, 315 other political appointees, such as executive assistants, liaison officers, personal aides, and technical staff, were engaged in supporting various departments.
Two Ministers of State at the Presidency were also listed, bringing the total number of political operatives working to over 361.
In contrast, under President Mahama’s administration, exactly 30 presidential staffers were appointed, a number he publicly confirmed. Of these, 27 were appointed to direct staff roles, while three were directors of key governmental initiatives.
The flyer confuses total political appointees with core presidential staff.
According to the Deputy presidential spokesperson, Shamima Muslim, there’s a distinction between actual presidential staff and supporting staff. She confirmed the data for the actual staff, but stated that data on supporting staff was not yet available.
Since the newly elected NDC administration has not published its complete list of presidential staff or support staff, it is premature to suggest that it has outperformed the NPP in reducing staff numbers.
Screenshot of the official list of parliamentary staffers for Akufo-Addo
Verdict: The comparison in the flyer is misleading. While the NPP had 336 political appointees to the presidency, 44 of whom are presidential staffers, the NDC only cited the core presidential staffers, who were 30, excluding the political appointees.
When contacted, a government official, deputy presidential spokesperson Shamima Muslim, acknowledged the distinction between actual presidential and supporting staff. She provided data for the actual staff but stated that data on supporting staff was not yet available.
As such, it is premature to conclude that the current administration has significantly reduced overall staff numbers compared to the NPP era.
Conclusion
The flyer’s claim that the NPP had 30 ministries and 336 presidential staffers is false. Verified records from Parliament and official government releases show that the Akufo-Addo administration operated 28 ministries, not 30, and had 44 senior presidential staffers, not 336. The flyer misleadingly includes auxiliary staffers in its count.
While Mahama’s administration did maintain a smaller number of ministries and staffers, the comparative data used in the viral post exaggerates the difference.
