Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Elikem Kotoko, has stated that President John Dramani Mahama is not under any pressure to appoint a substantive Minister for Defence following the death of Dr. Omane Boamah.

Mr. Kotoko said, “President Mahama is not under any pressure to even appoint a substantive minister as we speak. Leadership is what President Mahama is showing. There’s a substantive Deputy Minister, I hope you are aware, who can play a lot of roles and report to the caretaker minister [Ato Forson]. My own colleague, Brogya Genfi.”

He also defended the size of President Mahama’s current administration, noting that the government is operating efficiently with fewer ministers compared to the previous Akufo-Addo administration.

Mr. Kotoko emphasised that the President’s focus remains on stability, prudence, and effective governance rather than yielding to public pressure for hasty appointments.

“President Mahama has, for the longest time, been functioning with 56 ministers. In the success of the 7 months or so that he was in office, he was operating with 56, and if now he’s doing with 58 ministers, it’s only to tell you that at the time you were appointing 125 ministers who could not handle this economy, it was an avenue to dissipate the public purse,” he claimed.