Small-skin economy, big beleh cabinet!

Small-skin economy, big beleh cabinet. (loosely translated: Little economy, bloated cabinet)

The current governing party while in opposition berated its predecessor for reckless spending. Who would forget the signature line about the APC-government spending like “drunken sailors”? Neither would we forget the tongue-lashing, the venom spewing rhetoric about leakages in the last government. Soon after this government took over the reins, ‘broken economy’ became the buzzwords. The new leadership even opined that the economy was so shredded by reckless economic policies of the previous regime that it was in the worst state since independence. On page 95 of the New Direction Manifesto (the People’s Manifesto), the SLPP party pledged to control the Wage Bill:

Control of the Wage Bill

Uncontrolled wages and salaries caused by bloated public sector through presidential appointments and establishment of commissions that largely usurp the line Ministries’ functions, unregulated wage increases, double or triple dipping of salaries and pension as well as uncoordinated recruitment across the public sector. If we are to restore credibility to the service, we must coordinate the wage bill.

The very first cabinet assembled did not evince an austerity approach. To the chagrin of activists and economic pundits, the initial number of cabinet positions did not reflect the note of economic desperation sounded by the new men at the helm. The first cabinet was about the same number as the previous government’s. With the bawl of economic hardship, the new office of Chief Minister which seemingly ranks pari passu with the office of the Vice-President was the first big misstep by this regime. The office of the Chief Minister is simply a superfluity—this is because the Office of the Vice-President could execute the oversight responsibilities appertaining to that office without any additional strain on the wage bill.  The halving of the Ministry of Education was reasonable since the government’s flagship program needed more ministerial infrastructure to deliver on the program. Recently, the Ministries of Gender and the Environment have been created in addition to the twenty-seven existing ministries. Two additional deputy ministers and a full Minister of Defence. The ministers and their deputies including the ministers of state are in excess of seventy.

Some ministries needed to have been axed if not shrunken and subsumed under some other ministries. Certainly, some of the existing ministries/agencies/commissions add very little if not zilch to the overall governance output; their only contribution is to compound the discoordination between and amongst ministries, departments and agencies. Why retain them especially in the face of the current economic crisis? From Pa. Kabbah onto Ernest Koroma, the Defence portfolio has been under the Office of the President. If these ex-Presidents with no military background could serve as Defence ministers, I do not reckon any need for a Minister of Defence when there is a Chief of Defence Staff in addition to a Deputy Minister of Defence. Why appoint a National Security Adviser when there is a National Security Coordinator in the Office of National Security; Director-General in the Central Intelligence and Security Unit plus a whole Defense Council?  

Gender matters are not solved by mere creation of a Ministry of Gender. What is needed is implementation of at least some of the gender laws and policies which have been around for a decade. Furthermore, we need to have more appointed women to critical cabinet and decision-making positions. The appointment of the first female Attorney General is indeed laudable. But the slots need to go many notches up. That for now, would be more desirable than the creation of a separate Gender Ministry. There is no desperation for a Gender Ministry; the urgency is for more women to be included in a lean cabinet. 

A Ministry of Environment while there is an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a surplusage. As much as environmental matters are critical given our country’s vulnerability to climate change hazards, these are being addressed by the existence/work of EPA, National Protected Area Authority (NPAA), Ministries of Agriculture, Land among others. The creation of a separate ministry of environment in view of the mandate of particularly EPA only duplicates and could probably ignite a turf war on roles/responsibilities. Climate change is obviously upon us as our country is within the top-ten most vulnerable state to climate change despite our nation’s carbon-footprint being so grossly infinitesimal—in fact the whole of Africa accounts for less than 10% of global emissions, i.e. substantially less than China and the U.S. apiece, the two biggest emitters. EPA in collaboration with other existing institutions and actors both state and non-state, is better suited to deal with climate change adaptations while using our low footprint to attract REDD+ money.

The opening of embassies/high commissions in places such as Switzerland, Iran, UAE, South Korea, Egypt, Kuwait etc. and the attendant appointments of Ambassadors/High Commissioners and deputies do not resonate with the shrill of economic distress. Now there is a representative to the Islamic Military Counter-Terrorism Coalition in Saudi Arabia. We do not have the kind of foreign policy agenda which would dictate these mushrooming diplomatic missions. To cut down on cost, multi-state embassies should have been the way to go. Rather, instead of downsizing the outlets through which the government was subjecting its scanty resources to unnecessary stress, they were not only maintained but in fact expanded. 

The sundry unnecessary commissions and agencies have still not been dismantled. In addition to a Ministry of Youth, there’s a National Youth Commission; a Ministry of Political Affairs and a National Commission for Democracy and very soon there might be an Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion; Human Right Commission and an Office of the Ombudsman; Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs and a Children’s Commission; a Ministry of Works and Public Assets while there is a National Assets and Government’s Properties Commission. The numerous ministries most of which duplicate existing statutory entities only leap to the eye bloated spending. We have more ministries than Rwanda—with only 18 ministries— even though their population almost doubles ours. It is certainly not the big numbers that deliver; few efficient ministries can work the magic.

There is no gainsaying that the economy is in dire straits; this might not be the root fault of this regime but expanding cabinet, opening new unneeded embassies/high commissions and maintaining unnecessary agencies/commissions have only further shriveled the economy. The government needs to urgently adopt austerity measures to match the current economic and social hardships. Mergers of ministries and unbundling of some commissions and agencies would be a prudent move. This would save much needed resources which could be channeled towards the free quality education program. As it is now, the economy is shrinking but the cabinet is rising. The numbers certainly don’t match nor does the rationale for the over-sized cabinet.

For now, our nation seems like a kwashiorkor with an ever-burgeoning tummy. Picture that?