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UNIVERSITY OF GHANA 
 
 
COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES 
UNIVERSITY OF GHANA BUSINESS SCHOOL 
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND HEALTH SERVICES 
MANAGEMENT 
 
 
 
POLITICISATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF SENIOR BUREAUCRATS IN 
GHANA’S FOURTH REPUBLIC 
 
 
BY 
 
ABUBAKARI MOHAMMED 
 
(10249505) 
 
 
 
 
THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN 
PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MPHIL 
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION DEGREE 
 
 
 
NOVEMBER, 2020 
 
 
 
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DECLARATION 
I, ABUBAKARI MOHAMMED declare solemnly that apart from other literary works cited 
which are duly referenced and acknowledged, this dissertation has been the aftermath of my 
original research work, at the Department of Public Administration and Health Services 
Management. No part of this work has been submitted to any institution for the award of any 
other degree. 
 
 
16/11/2020
………………………………………   ………………………………… 
ABUBAKARI MOHAMMED     DATE 
(10249505) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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ABSTRACT 
Ghana has been touted as a beacon of democracy, good governance, and a story of hope for 
Africa and other developing nations in the world. This is largely due to the successes it has 
chalked in consolidating its democracy, through successful and successive elections since 
1992. However, Ghana appears not to have a strong, effective, and efficient public sector. 
Whereas there is no single factor that has compromised the quality and effectiveness of the 
public sector, one cannot disregard politicisation as one of the contributory factors. The study 
sought to examine why the appointment of heads of public institutions is politicised and the 
long-term implications in Ghana’s fourth republic. The study adopted an exploratory approach 
in qualitative research and primary data was augmented into relevant secondary data. It 
sampled eighteen (18) respondents through face-to-face interviews using semi-structured 
interview guides on respondents from the field of Academia, Think tanks/CSOs and the Public 
Service. Empirically the study found out that politicisation of the appointment of senior 
bureaucrats has been around for a long time and the causal factors are colonial legacy, trust and 
loyalty, party support, clientelism, patronage, and cronyism. It was also found out that the 
practice has intensified in the fourth republic due to the Winner-Takes-All nature of the 1992 
constitution, creation of “jobs for the boys”, campaign resources and loyalty, moneycracy 
associated with political campaigning, patronage, clientelism, and the involvement of 
bureaucrats into politics. Again, it was realized that politicisation has indirectly affected the 
mandate of most public sector organizations, stifle development, affects public sector reforms 
and has the tendency of injuring Ghana’s fledgling democracy. Participants believe that 
strengthening of existing laws will help curb this phenomenon. The study among other things 
recommended that incremental policies, bureaucratic autonomy and a review of the president’s 
power of appointment would help minimize politicisation in Ghana’s bureaucratic set-up. 
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CERTIFICATION 
I hear by certify that this thesis was supervised in accordance with the procedure laid down by 
the University of Ghana. 
 
 
 
 18/11/2020
……………………………………………...              ……………………………….
  
PROF. ABDUL-GAFARU ABDULAI     DATE 
(SUPERVISOR) 
 
 
 
 18/11/2020
………………………………………………  ………………………………
     
DR. JAMES KWAME MENSAH       DATE 
(CO-SUPERVISOR) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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DEDICATION 
This thesis is dedicated to my wife, children, and parents. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 
This thesis journey would not have been complete without the grace of my Maker. However, I 
acknowledge the tremendous support and contribution of certain individuals on this journey. 
First, my heartfelt gratitude goes to Prof. Abdulai Abdul-Gafaru, my supervisor for your 
immense support and contribution towards the success of this work, may the Almighty Allah 
shower his unquenchable blessings over your life and that of your family. Also, I wish to extend 
my deepest gratitude to my co-supervisor, Dr. James Kwame Mensah for his massive advice 
and support throughout the entire thesis work.  
I wish to thank the entire faculty at the Department of Public Administration and Health 
Services Management especially: Prof. Kwame Asamoah, Prof. Justice N. Bawole, Dr. Daniel 
Appiah, Dr. Thomas Buabeng, Prof. Albert Ahenkan, and Mrs. Mary Larbi. To Mr. Victor K. 
Amankwa Chief porter of Commonwealth Hall, I say thank you for your advice and support.  
Again, my appreciation goes to my entire family especially: my late father Mohammed Musah, 
who did not live long enough to witness my graduation, my mother Mariama Awudu, my 
siblings and my uncle Hajj Ankibu Abdul-Salam for supporting my education. 
My deep gratitude goes to Diana Aboagye, Daschle Abu-Cardinals Junior, Darien Reign Abu-
Cardinals and Darien Ryan Abu-Cardinals, you people inspired me to attain this height. 
My warm thankfulness goes to all my cause mates and work colleagues especially: Bennet 
Kwadzo Nyadzi who understood me in diverse ways, Festus Agayare Asante, Christina Ofosu, 
and Raubila Mohammed. And to Comfort Ataa Nyarko Jnr, Charlotte Frempong and Kojo 
Antwi for being good friends. 
Lastly, to Simon Wunpini Bangni and Yaw Owusu Adu my room mates at Commonwealth 
Hall for making my stay on campus a memorable one and also for “pushing” me to finish this 
work on time. 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
DECLARATION....................................................................................................................... i 
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. ii 
CERTIFICATION ................................................................................................................. iii 
DEDICATION......................................................................................................................... iv 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ....................................................................................................... v 
LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. x 
LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................. xi 
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................... xii 
 
CHAPTER ONE ...................................................................................................................... 1 
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................... 1 
1.0 General Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 
1.1 Background ...................................................................................................................... 1 
1.2 Research Problem ............................................................................................................ 4 
1.3 Research Objectives ......................................................................................................... 7 
1.3.1 General Objective ..................................................................................................... 7 
1.3.2 Specific Objective ..................................................................................................... 7 
1.4 Research Questions .......................................................................................................... 8 
1.5 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................. 8 
1.6 Research Limitation ......................................................................................................... 9 
1.7 Organization of the Study ................................................................................................ 9 
 
CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................................................... 11 
LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................................... 11 
2.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 11 
2.1 Theoretical Framework .................................................................................................. 11 
2.1.1 Political Settlement Theory..................................................................................... 11 
2.1.2 The Theory of Politics-Administration Dichotomy ................................................ 13 
2.1.3 Practicality of the Theories on the Study ................................................................ 15 
2.2 Electoral Transitions ...................................................................................................... 18 
2.2.1 Brief History of Ghana’s Transition ....................................................................... 19 
2.2.2 The First Inter-Party Transition (2000/2001) ......................................................... 20 
2.2.3 The Second Inter-Party Transition (2008/2009) ..................................................... 21 
2.2.4 The Presidential Transition Act and the 2016/2017 Transitions ............................ 22 
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2.2.5 The Presidential Transition Act, 2012, Act 845 ..................................................... 22 
2.2.6 The Third Transition (2016/2017) .......................................................................... 24 
2.2.7 Politics of Electoral Transitions in Ghana .............................................................. 25 
2.3 Concept of Bureaucracy ................................................................................................. 27 
2.4 Ghana’s Public Service .................................................................................................. 28 
2.4.1 The Public Service Commission ............................................................................. 28 
2.4.2 The Civil Service .................................................................................................... 30 
2.4.3 Head of The Ghana Civil Service (HCS) ................................................................ 31 
2.4.4 The Chief Director (CD) ......................................................................................... 31 
2.4.5 Politics of Recruitment into the PS ......................................................................... 31 
2.5 Other Related Concepts ................................................................................................. 32 
2.5.1 Patronage................................................................................................................. 32 
2.5.1.2 Patronage in Ghana ........................................................................................... 34 
2.5.2 Clientelism in Ghana............................................................................................... 34 
2.5.3 Winner-Takes-All ................................................................................................... 35 
2.5.3.1 Effects of WTA on the Politicisation of Ghana’s Bureaucracy ........................ 36 
2.6 Politicisation of Bureaucracy ......................................................................................... 38 
2.6.1 Effects of Politicisation of Bureaucracy ................................................................. 39 
2.6.1.1 Positive Effects ................................................................................................. 39 
2.6.1.2 Negative Effects ................................................................................................ 40 
2.7 Chapter Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 41 
 
CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................... 43 
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................... 43 
3.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 43 
3.2 Research Paradigm......................................................................................................... 43 
3.3 Research Approach ........................................................................................................ 44 
3.4 Research Setting............................................................................................................. 45 
3.5 Population ...................................................................................................................... 46 
3.6 Inclusion Criteria ........................................................................................................... 46 
3.7 Exclusion Criteria .......................................................................................................... 46 
3.8 Sample Size .................................................................................................................... 47 
3.9 Demography of Respondents ......................................................................................... 49 
3.9.1 Gender ..................................................................................................................... 49 
3.9.2 Level of Education .................................................................................................. 49 
3.9.3 Job Position ............................................................................................................. 49 
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3.9.4 Number of Working Years...................................................................................... 50 
3.10 Sampling Technique .................................................................................................... 50 
3.11 Sources of Data ............................................................................................................ 51 
3.11.1 Primary Data ......................................................................................................... 51 
3.11.2 Secondary Source.................................................................................................. 51 
3.12 Method of Data Collection........................................................................................... 52 
3.13 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................... 52 
3.14 Ethical Consideration ................................................................................................... 53 
 
CHAPTER FOUR .................................................................................................................. 54 
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS ................................................... 54 
4.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 54 
4.1 Why are the Appointment of Heads of Public Institutions Politicised in Ghana ........... 54 
4.1.1 The Driving Factors of Politicisation in Ghana ...................................................... 55 
4.1.1.1 Colonial Legacy ................................................................................................ 55 
4.1.1.2 Game of Trust and Loyalty ............................................................................... 57 
4.1.1.3 The desire to fulfil Social Contract ................................................................... 58 
4.1.1.4 Party Support/Contribution, Patronage, and Clientelism .................................. 60 
4.1.2 The Driving Factors of Politicisation in Ghana’s Fourth Republic ........................ 64 
4.1.2.1 Winner-Takes-All (WTA) ................................................................................ 64 
4.1.2.2 Jobs for the boys ............................................................................................... 67 
4.1.2.3 Campaign Resources and Moneycracy ............................................................. 69 
4.1.2.4 Politics of Acrimony ......................................................................................... 72 
4.1.2.5 The Administrative Politician ........................................................................... 74 
4.2 Implications of Politicisation of the Appointment of Senior Bureaucrats ..................... 77 
4.2.1 Politicisation of Appointment and Mandate ........................................................... 77 
4.2.2 Politicisation on Public Sector Reforms (PSR) ...................................................... 80 
4.2.3 Developmental Outcomes and Politicisation .......................................................... 83 
4.2.4 Implication on Ghana’s Democracy ....................................................................... 86 
4.3 Policy Guidelines to Reducing Politicisation in the Public Sector ................................ 88 
4.3.1 What can be done in terms of Policy? .................................................................... 89 
4.3.2 How it can be done ................................................................................................. 92 
4.3.3 Alternative Causes of Action That Can Bring Change ........................................... 94 
4.4 Chapter Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 96 
 
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CHAPTER FIVE ................................................................................................................... 98 
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........... 98 
5.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 98 
5.1 Summary of Key Findings ............................................................................................. 98 
5.1.1 Why are the Appointment of Heads of Public Institutions Politicised in Ghana.... 99 
5.1.2 Implications of Politicisation of the Appointment of Senior Bureaucrats ............ 101 
5.1.3 Policy Guidelines to Reducing Politicisation in the Public Sector ....................... 102 
5.2 Contribution to Theory, Literature and Policy ............................................................. 102 
5.2.1 Theory ................................................................................................................... 102 
5.2.2 Literature ............................................................................................................... 103 
5.2.3 Policy .................................................................................................................... 104 
5.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 104 
5.4 Recommendation ......................................................................................................... 105 
 
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 107 
APPENDIX ........................................................................................................................... 125 
 
 
 
 
 
  
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LIST OF FIGURES 
Figure 2. 1: The Nexus of Political Settlement and Politics-Administration Dichotomy ....... 17 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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LIST OF TABLES 
Table 3. 1: Summary of Respondents Interviewed .................................................................. 48 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 
BNI Bureau of National Investigations  
CD Chief Director  
CDD Centre for Democratic Governance  
CEO Chief Executive Officer  
CGP Central Governance Project  
  
CLOSSAG Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana 
 
COCOBOD Ghana Cocoa Board  
 
 
CSAPR Civil Service Annual Performance Report  
 
CSC Civil Services Commission 
CRC Constitutional Review Commission 
DFID Department for International Development  
DP Development Partners  
FSHS Free Senior High School 
GoG Government of Ghana 
GPHA Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority 
HCS Head of Civil Service  
IDEG Institute for Democratic Governance  
IO International Organizations  
IMF International Monitory Fund 
 
IEA Institute of Economic Affairs  
NDC National Democratic Congress 
NPP New Patriotic Party 
PI Public Institutions 
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PSC Public Services Commission  
PSR Public Sector Reform  
SDGs Sustainable Development Goals  
SA Special Assistance 
UN United Nations  
WB World Bank  
WTA Winner-Takes-All       
 
 
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CHAPTER ONE 
INTRODUCTION 
1.0 General Introduction  
The study focuses on the reasons accounting for the politicisation of heads of Public Institutions 
(PI) in Ghana’s fourth republic. This chapter looks at the study background, problem statement, 
objectives, and research questions. The chapter will further look at the significance of the study, 
its limitations, as well as the organization of the study. 
 
1.1 Background 
Ghana has been touted as a beacon of democracy, good governance, and a story of hope for 
Africa and other developing counties in the world. This is largely due to the successes it has 
chalked in consolidating its democracy, through successful and successive elections since 1992 
and for its record of good governance and respect for human rights, which are key pillars of 
democracy (Sithole, 2012). Ghana’s reputation as a model African democracy owes much to 
its ability to change governments through the ballot box and its enviable title of promoting 
human rights, free speech, a strong media, civil society organizations, and high regard for rule 
of law (Gyampo, Ofori-Mensah & Owusu Mensah., 2013). 
 
However, Ghana does not have a strong, effective, and efficient public sector (Ayee, 2018). 
Whereas there is no single factor that has compromised the quality and effectiveness of the 
public sector, one cannot disregard politicisation as one of the contributory factors. A 
fundamental myth, in the running of the public sector in Ghana, is the supposed interference, 
of governments in toying with the sector, as and when they deem necessary and in some cases 
when there is a change of government from one democratically elected political party to 
another,  one such area of interest is the “proceed on leave, constructive dismissal, transfer, 
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sacking and/or resigning for alleged inefficiency” of Chief Executive Officers, Chief Directors 
and other Heads of Public Services who are protected by the 1992 constitutions, and other Acts 
of Parliament (Ayelazuno, 2019). 
 
The public sector in Ghana has attracted the interest and concern of politicians, citizens, public 
servants, and development partners (DP) since independence, the reason being that, as 
exemplified by the Asian development states, no country can make meaningful stride towards 
its development and governance capacity without retooling its public sector to be a 
professional, meritocratic and effective one, capable of delivering value for money (Ayee, 
2018). Therefore, for Ghana to develop, it must strengthen its public sector, to a strong, 
effective, and efficient one devoid of government interference in its management. 
 
The return to multiparty democracy in 1992 has witnessed transitions being marred with 
tension, rancour, ill-feeling and smacked of a military takeover. (Asante, 2019; Joyce, 2015; 
Ninsin 2016). This has resulted in major shake-ups in both the political and administrative set-
ups of the country with personal being asked to proceed on leave and some transferred to other 
less glamorous institutions (Aryee, 2013). However, Asante (2019), Joyce (2015) and Nkansah 
(2012) believe that it should be attributable to the lack of a legal document guiding political 
transitions in Ghana. 
 
In 2017 however, not even the passage of the Presidential Transition Act 2012 (Act 854), as 
amended in October 2016 saved matters (Ayee, 2018). Some heads of public institutions 
suffered the same fate as the previous transitions (Asante, 2019; Joyce, 2015). Ayee (2018), 
believes that the Act was either misinterpreted, misapplied, or was not followed, further 
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aggravating the politicisation of the appointment of senior bureaucrats. Ofori-Mensah (2016) 
describes the Act as having numerous problems but singled out Section 14 as worrying.   
 
Section 14 of the Presidential Transition Act 2012 (Act 845), requires the chief executives or 
director-general (however described) of public boards or corporations to cease to hold office 
upon the assumption of office by a person elected as President of the Republic of Ghana 
(Graphiconline, 2019). Even though, the removal of these officeholders is explicitly stated in 
Article 191 of the 1992 constitution.  Article 191 (b) states: “A member of the public service 
shall not be dismissed or removed from office or reduced in rank or otherwise punished without 
a just cause” (1992 Constitution of Ghana). The establishing Acts of the various public 
institutions particularly the condition of services spells out the condition under which an officer 
may be dismissed or his/her appointment tempered with. Even though Article 195 Clause 1 of 
the Constitution gives the President of the Republic the power to appoint public service 
officers, it does so with the advice of the governing board of the specific corporation, “given 
in consultation with the Public Services Commission” (1992 constitution of Ghana).  
 
Worth mentioning is the fact that the Supreme Court of Ghana has brought a finality to the 
inconsistency brought forth by Section 14 of the Presidential (Transition) Act 2012 (Act 845), 
in its ruling, in the petition filed by, Mr. Theophilus Donkor. The plaintiff as a result of the 
large-scale dismissals of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and other senior bureaucrats by 
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo after assuming Office in 2017 invoked the original, 
interpretative jurisdiction of the supreme court to seek an interpretation of Article 2(1) and 130 
of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. The reliefs sought were to the effect that CEOs of public 
corporations and institutions under Article 190 Clause 1(b) of the 1992 constitution, are part of 
the Public Services of Ghana and thus their appointments are therefore protected by the 
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constitution. The Plaintiff further declared that the removal of CEOs of public corporations 
based on the assumption of the Office of a new president was not “a just cause” as envisaged 
under Article 191(1b) of the constitution.  
 
The Supreme Court unanimously granted the above reliefs and also declared that:  “…section 
14 of the Presidential Transition Act 2012 (Act 845) requires all Chief Executives, Chief 
Executive Officers, Director-Generals (howsoever called) and members of governing boards 
of public corporations to cease to hold office merely on account of the assumption of office of 
the person elected as President of the Republic of Ghana, the said section 14 is unconstitutional 
because it is inconsistent with the letter and spirit of the Constitution, particularly Articles 
70(1)(d)(iii), 190 and/or 191(b) of the Constitution” (Donkor v Attorney General, 2017 Writ 
No: J1/08/2017, 12/06/19). 
 
The court, however, indicated that members of governing boards of statutory boards and 
corporations appointed per article 70(1)(d)(iii) of the Constitution are not members of the 
Public Service and their tenure is not governed by articles 191 and 195 of the Constitution. 
(Donkor v Attorney General, 2017 Writ No: J1/08/2017, 12/06/19). 
This ruling has the effect of restraining future presidents from dismissing CEOs of State 
institutions. Whether this will bring finality to the issue of axing heads of public institutions 
can best be answered in the next major transition. 
 
1.2 Research Problem 
Most scholarly works seem to suggest that the politicisation of the public sector in Ghana 
cannot be disregarded when considering the factors that account for the dwindling nature of 
the Ghanaian bureaucratic set-up (Ayee, 2018; Ayelazuno, 2019). This has a long history, 
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dating back to independence, as aptly stated by Quartey (2007), Cited in Asamoah and Yeboah-
Assiamah (2018:8)  
“The trend started under the First Republic when Dr. Eustace Akwei, the first 
Ghanaian Director of Medical Services was dismissed by Dr. Nkrumah on some 
flimsy charges which were not even properly investigated. Under the Second 
Republic, as many as 568 public servants were dismissed at a go”  
 
It has however been very rife since the inception of the fourth republic (Asamoah & 
Yeboah-Assiamah, 2018). 
 
Anecdotal evidence points to the fact that the electoral transitions in the fourth republic notably 
in 2000, 2008, and 2016 have witnessed a constant politicisation because senior bureaucrats 
and other public servants were sacked or asked to proceed on leave by presidential fiat,   thereby 
extending the acrimonious nature of party campaign being adopted by the two leading political 
parties the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to the 
bureaucratic set-up of the country (Ayee, 2018).  
 
For instance, in the year 2001, after urging all hands-on deck in his maiden speech to parliament 
on January 7th, 2001, president Kufuor through his finance minister Mr. Osafo-Maafo sent the 
heads of six state-run financial and insurance institutions on forced leave and went ahead to 
replace the Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), John Newman, by 
the body's deputy chief executive, Sam Appiah who was in charge of marketing. (Reuters-
Abidjan, 2001 as reported by Ghanaweb, 2001). 
 
Similarly, In 2009, President Mills promised to be a father for all, but just six days into his 
administration on Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 30 Civil Servants were sacked on the orders of 
his transition team, the dismissed civil servants were A5 Foreign Service officers at the 
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Ministry of Foreign Affairs who received their appointment letters and had been officially 
sworn into office,  “Ministry sources said the Mills' Transition Team Sub-Committee on 
Foreign Affairs had expressed doubts about their political affiliation”  their dismissal letters 
were copied to Dr. Tony Aidoo, Chairman of the Government Transition Sub-Committee on 
Foreign Affairs (Opoku, 2009 cited in Ghanaweb 2009). 
 
In 2017 following the defeat of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2016 general 
elections, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and the 
Director-General of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) had their appointments 
terminated, while the Chief Executive of the Ghana Gas Company was asked to proceed on 
terminal leave effective 1st February 2017 (Graphiconline, 2017). 
 
Analytically there have been several works that attempted to ascribe meaning and explain the 
politicisation of public bureaucracy in Ghana’s fourth republic and the period before. Gyampo 
and Graham (2017) and Ijon (2019) describe Ghana’s current political dispensation as a 
Winner-Takes-All” (WTA) a worrying phenomenon for both the citizens and policymakers as 
well as development patterners. According to Gyampo (2015), the 1992 Constitution grants 
extensive powers to the President in appointing several officials and agencies of the state in a 
manner that makes these bodies somewhat his appendages. Again, Ayelazuno (2019) believes 
that the awesome powers to appoint and sack, known in recent political discourses in Ghana as 
“the power to appoint and disappoint” public officials make them serve at the pleasure of the 
government rather than being neutral. Abdulai and Hickey (2016) describe the nature of the 
political system since 1992, as competitive clientelism. One key feature of competitive 
clientelism relating to Ghana is the politicisation of state institutions, which has crippled the 
effectiveness of the state capacity (Appiah & Abdulai, 2017a). Thus, to them, the nature of the 
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political system has given rise to politicisation in Ghana over the past two decades. Ayee (2013) 
and Kopecký (2012) have also contributed by looking at how the patronage system in Ghana 
has led to the politicisation of the Ghanaian public sector. Kopecký on his part did a 
comparative study of Ghana and South Africa and concluded that the patronage system is very 
rife in Ghana. A situation he blames on both the NDC and the NPP. Anaman (2016), Nissin 
(2016 & 2006), Gyampo et al. (2013), and Nkansah (2012) have also examined the transfer of 
power in Ghana’s transition and its associated challenges in the Fourth Republic. Again, 
scholars like, Gyampo et al. (2013) and Ofori-Mensah (2013) also studied how the Transitional 
bill in Ghana was implemented in 2013.  
 
Despite the insights from the foregone studies, there seems to be little research on the 
politicisation of the appointment of Chief Directors, and other heads of public institutions in 
Ghana, especially during an electoral transition in Ghana as chronicled above from 2001 to 
2017. The closest has been the works of Appiah and Abdulai (2017b) and Asamoah and 
Yeboah-Assiamah (2018) which looked at the relationship between politics and 
Administration. This research however seeks to look at the politicisation of the appointment of 
chief directors and other heads of public institutions and its implications on Ghana’s 
development. 
 
1.3 Research Objectives 
1.3.1 General Objective 
The main objective of the study is to examine why the appointment of heads of Public 
Institutions (PI) is politicised and the long-term implications in Ghana’s fourth republic.  
1.3.2 Specific Objective 
Specifically, the study seeks to: 
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1. Examine why the appointment of heads of public institutions is politicised in Ghana. 
2. Examine the implications of politicisation of the appointment of heads of public 
institutions on developmental policies and reforms. 
3. Identify the appropriate policy guidelines to curb the politicisation of the appointment, 
of heads of public institutions in Ghana’s fourth republic. 
 
1.4 Research Questions 
The study seeks to answer the following questions: 
1. Why is the appointment of heads of public institutions politicised in Ghana? 
2. What are the implications of the politicisation of the appointment of heads of public 
institutions on developmental policies and reforms? 
3. What appropriate policy guidelines will help curb the politicisation of the appointment, 
promotion, and dismissal of heads of public institutions in Ghana’s fourth republic? 
 
1.5 Significance of the Study 
The contribution of this study can be viewed along three strands: research, practice, and 
policy/legislation. Concerning contribution to research, the study goes beyond current research 
on the politicisation of the public sector, the winner-take-all (WTA) system, problems of 
political transition, clientelism and patronage in Ghana, to dealing with the politics of sacking 
heads of the public institutions and document the very reason why their employment contracts 
are politicized. The findings of the study contribute to the existing body of data on the politics 
and management of the public sector in Ghana and beyond and provide a future research 
direction in this area. 
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Concerning contribution to Ghana’s governance system, empirical data of the study is useful 
to governmental agencies as well as all stakeholders contributing to Ghana’s governance 
system and management of the public sector. The outcomes and findings of this study also 
provide a sense of direction for donor agencies and non-governmental organizations that may 
collaborate with state agencies towards achieving the good governance element of the 
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 
 
Concerning contribution to policy and legislation, this study responds to practicable situations, 
on the politics of sacking heads of the public institution in Ghana and document the very reason 
why, elected officials, continue to interfere in the workings of the bureaucratic set-up, and help 
shape future policy directions. 
 
1.6 Research Limitation 
The study focuses on why the appointment of heads of public institutions are politicised in 
Ghana’s fourth republic, the study is therefore limited in scope, difficulty in assessing 
secondary and primary data, time constraints and the associated implications of Corona Virus 
(Covid-19). 
 
1.7 Organization of the Study 
The study is organized into five chapters. Chapter one entails the introduction of the study 
which details the background of the study, statement of the research problem, objectives of the 
study, research questions, significance of the study, the scope of the study, limitations of the 
study, and organization of the study. The second chapter reviews the relevant theoretical and 
related empirical literature on the topic. Chapter three detailed the research methodology used 
for the study, which includes the research design, data collection methods, yardstick for the 
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data analysis, and discussion. It further highlights the strategy and paradigm and discussion of 
sample techniques and size. The Fourth chapter covers an overview of the politicisation of 
Ghana’s Public Sector (PS) and interference by elected officials, it also presents a detailed 
analysis of the research, data presentation, interpretation, and discussion of the collected data. 
Chapter five gives a summary of the findings, implication of the study on literature, theory and 
development, conclusion, recommendations, and suggested areas for further research. 
 
 
 
 
 
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CHAPTER TWO 
LITERATURE REVIEW 
2.0 Introduction 
This section encompasses the theoretical framework made up of theory(s) explaining the 
phenomenon under study and a review of significant literature relating to electoral transitions 
and politicisation of Ghana’s bureaucracy in the fourth republic.  
 
2.1 Theoretical Framework 
This section presents the framework underpinning this study. Being a political concept, several 
concepts such as coalition theory, winner-takes-all (WTI), and many other theories can be used 
to explain the transition and politicisation of bureaucracy.  Nonetheless, the political settlement 
and the politics-administration dichotomy theories are adopted to expound the phenomenon 
under study.  
 
2.1.1 Political Settlement Theory 
For many decades, the political settlement theory did not catch the attention of many scholars 
until Mushtaq Khan popularize it in the early 1990s with his series of works on development 
(Bell, 2015). Political settlement theory argues that fierce conflict stabilizes only on the 
condition that resources, opportunities, or benefits that are of political (positions) or business 
in nature are consistent with the distribution of power in a society (Cheng., Goodhand & 
Meehan, 2018; David & Sagnayeva, 2019). To the Department for International Development-
DFID (2010), it is the appreciation of a common understanding forged, mostly between the 
governing elites of a country, about how power is distributed and organized. They include all 
the formal institutions for managing the political and economic relations like the electoral 
process, parliament, peace agreements, constitutions, market regulations as well as several 
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informal arrangements of a country, which often are tacit agreements that back the political 
system. In effect, the political settlement creates the basic rules that govern economic relations 
and resource allocation (DFID, 2010). On their part, Di John and Putzel (2009) opined that 
political settlement is a power distribution channel that a contending social grouping or class 
that forms the basis of the state. However, Khan (2010:4) defines a political settlement as “a 
combination of power and institutions that is mutually compatible and sustainable in terms of 
economic and political viability”. To achieve this the governing class (elite) shape the 
outcomes and influence the worldview of others, through powers that emanate from 
overwhelming support for elections, affluence, and the ability to cause violence or wage war 
(Rao, 2010). 
According to Abdulai (2020:4), there are two broad dimensions to political settlements: 
 “The first is dominant ruler/party settlements where power is highly 
concentrated among a narrow ruling elite, such that there is little prospect of 
the ruling coalition losing power in the near future” and secondly 
“is competitive clientelism, where power is distributed more widely among elite 
groups and there is a high likelihood that ruling political elites can be replaced 
by excluded elite factions in the short to medium term” 
 
This research, however, uses Khan’s Clientelist’s Political Settlement theory to explain how 
and why the Ghanaian bureaucracy is politicized in the fourth republic, where formal 
procedures exist but are disregarded by elected political leaders to suit their whims and 
caprices. According to Abdulai and Hickey (2016), Ghana’s political system since 1992 can 
best be described as one churning the path of competitive clientelism. Amongst the distinctive 
feature of the competitive clientelist settlement of political system, relates to the politicisation 
of the bureaucratic state institution through patronage appointments, which has a grave 
consequence for state capacity and of the bureaucracy of the state (Appiah & Abdulai, 2017a). 
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Given the time to clutch on to power and the seeming threat of losing power not to talk of the 
four-year election period given by the constitution in Ghana, political leaders have little or no 
incentive to equip in the futuristic policy of building the capacity of the bureaucratic institutions 
(Appiah & Abdulai, 2017a; Levy, 2014). In the quest for perpetuating their stay amid a 
competitive opposition, the ruling elite will ordinarily use the public bureaucratic structure as 
a means through which “the discretionary allocation of rents: market privileges; patronage 
public employment; single-sourced procurement contracts; preferential access to natural 
resources” (Appiah & Abdulai, 2017a:8). 
 
2.1.2 The Theory of Politics-Administration Dichotomy 
One of the popular theories in the realm of public administration is the theory of politics-
administration dichotomy. It has existed for over a century but remains one of the most 
disputable and strange concepts amongst the scholars of public administration (Tahmasebi & 
Musavi, 2011). Over the years, it has taken centre stage in advancing the debate in public 
administration and other fields of study that one may think would have been exhaustive, yet it 
never goes away (Svara & Overeem, 2006). At the core of this debate is the way and manner 
political leaders and administrators relate or ought to relate (Tahmasebi & Musavi, 2011). This 
was put in motion when Woodrow Wilson, proposed to separate the field of administration 
from political institutions. To him,  
“The field of administration is a field of business. It is removed from the hurry 
and strife of politics... Administration lies outside the proper sphere of politics. 
Administrative questions are not political questions. Although politics sets the 
administration tasks, it should not be suffered to manipulate its offices” 
(Wilson, 1887:18, cited in Tahmasebi & Musavi, 2011:131). 
 
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As alluded earlier, scholars were divided on whether politics should stay away from the realms 
of administration or not and have therefore contributed to the debate in the following manner: 
Woodrow Wilson’s aim according to Stillman (1973) was to insulate the politicisation and 
interference of party organisations from the realm of administrative affairs of the state. Again, 
he was protecting politicians but was strengthening administration (Svara, 1998). Wilson 
advances his argument in his book, the study of administration by explaining government to 
mean public administration as the detailed and systematic execution of public law, but the 
general laws are outside of and above administration. That the broad plans of governmental 
action are not administrative; the detailed execution of such plans is administrative (Wilson, 
1966). 
 
Ironically, in his later writings on the subject matter, Wilson welcomed the idea that politics 
and administration should act side by side to improving the state (Martin, 1988). That 
notwithstanding, his overarching aim was to promote democracy in a manner that the excesses 
of democracy will not be the burden of administration (Yang & Holzer, 2005). 
 
Frank Goodnow (1900) disregarded the three functions of government but instead 
conceptualize it into two, thus the expression of the popular will and the execution of that will, 
that both can be separated because the function of politics was to express the will and that of 
the demonstration was to execute the will. He further asserted that political control of the 
administration would render the latter ineffective (Tahmasebi & Musavi, 2011). Many scholars 
believe that both Wilson and Goodnow advocated for the separation of politics and 
administration to eliminating the spoils system, political appointments of administrators, and 
patronage (Caiden, 1984; Rosenbloom, 2008).  
 
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Marx Weber, in contributing his bit to the debate of politics-administration dichotomy as 
opposed to the thinking of Wilson and Goodnow, argued that administration is the most 
powerful of the two and that it will be dangerous for politics to be admitted in administration 
(Tahmasebi & Musavi, 2011) and further advocated for the separation of the two (Weber, 
1968). To him, the civil servant should not be partisan but be neutral and the politician must 
not be allowed to interfere with the workings of the civil servant. Thus, to the above, they 
aimed to keep partisan politics out of the realm of administration but not to distinctly keep them 
at bay (Van Riper, 1984). 
 
Later scholars, however, diverged from the earlier views espoused by Wilson and Goodnow. 
Scholars like Caiden (1984), Golembiewski (1977), and Van Riper (1984) argue that the ideas 
of separating politics from the administration were not feasible and accuse the proponents of 
the theory as defining it in a narrow sense which typifies the mappings of their time. Van Riper 
(1984) for instance, argues that it was made possible to suit the scientific management process 
which was a feature of administration at the time. 
 
In sum, however, the separation of politics from the administration was to reduce the politics 
in the administrative process of a country’s bureaucracy by recommending technical 
competence, neutrality, and hierarchy (Demir & Nyhan, 2008). 
 
2.1.3 Practicality of the Theories on the Study  
The two theories complement in finding answers to the questions posed by this research.  The 
political settlement theory (Clientelist Political Settlement) as adopted for this study explains 
how power dynamics (most especially in electoral transition) affect the appointment of senior 
bureaucrats in Ghana. Specifically, it shows how the political elite’s desire to winning the next 
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election affects the distribution of positions to party loyalists within the Ghanian public sector, 
thereby promoting clientelism and patronage. This assertion has been greatly supported by the 
works of scholars like Abdulai and Hickey (2016), Appiah and Abdulai, (2017a) and Levy, 
(2014). 
The adoption of the theory of politics-administration dichotomy, on the other hand, alludes to 
the concern that administrators must be left to run the bureaucratic set-up of the country based 
on the tenets of competence, neutrality, hierarchy and autonomy (Demir & Nyhan, 2008). That 
even though the government has been given the extensive power of appointment under the 
1992 constitution, the ruling elite ought to respect the roles of bureaucratic bodies like the 
Public Services Commission in the appointment and or sacking of senior bureaucrats. Thus, 
politicians set the agenda but the execution must be left in the hands of a neutral and 
autonomous administrator, thereby limiting politics in the administrative process of the state.   
Finally, the application of the theories alludes to the assertion that politicisation of the 
appointment of senior bureaucrats, is made possible due to the extensive powers of the 
president under the 1992 constitution and the Winner-Takes-All (WTA) nature of the 1992 
constitution. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Figure 2. 1: The Nexus of Political Settlement and Politics-Administration Dichotomy 
Political Settlement    Politics-Administration Dichotomy 
 
 Clientelist 
Public Sector-
Political Elite 
Political A Administration (Set Agenda) 
Settlement (CPS)  (Execute 
 Agenda)  
 
Excessive Power of 
 
Appointment and WTA 
(Influence by 1992 
 Constitution and CPS) 
 
Politicisation of Senior 
 
Bureaucrats  
  
Source: Author’s Construct (2020) 
The construct above depicts the nexus of the two theories on the study. From the construct, 
Clientelist Political Settlement influences the nature of the Political elite and vice versa. 
Politics-Administration Dichotomy tends to limit the influence of politics on the administrative 
set-up of the country, labeled as (A). However, the extensive power of appointment and the 
Winner-Takes-All nature of the 1992 constitution being influenced by the Clientelist Political 
Settlement, leads to the politicisation of the appointment of senior bureaucrats, hence the 
administrative set-up of the country.  
 
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2.2 Electoral Transitions 
The political history of the world has evolved to its current state through a wave of transitions. 
One such transition is an electoral transition which is synonymous with democracy. Defining 
or explaining transition is a daunting task due to the activities constituting the process of 
transition and the types of transitions espoused by many scholars. According to Jubb (2001) in 
Asante (2019:10), a transition is made up of inter-party transition- “where presidential office 
experiences a change of party control” and Intra-party transition- “where the party in power is 
successful in retaining political power”. Political transition according to Hogue (2016) is the 
handing over of political power from one presidential administration to another. Anaman 
(2016) believes that transition in politics is centred on a democratic regime and is based on the 
rule of law and the conduct of multi-party elections. According to Gyampo et al. (2013:3), a 
transition is the  
“The administrative and political processes by which an incoming government 
emerges, the outgoing hands over the government to the incoming leadership 
and the incoming president, in the case of Ghana, takes over power to form a 
new government which covers a time frame, activities and processes to elect a 
leader and transfer the governance of a country from one administration to 
another”  
 
Transitions in Ghana has created a block of winners and losers amongst the ruling elite, and 
the practicality of this is felt in the entitlement of the transfer of political and administrative 
powers from a group of ruling elites either from the same political party or from another 
political party (Ninsin, 2016). The fourth republic, even though has witnessed both scenarios 
has seen only two political parties-the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New 
Patriotic Party (NPP) alternating power amongst themselves. To address the objective of this 
research, Political Transition would be defined as the transfer of political and administrative 
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power of a state from one political party (NDC) to (NPP) or vice versa after a democratically 
held election in Ghana. (Ninsin, 2016). 
 
2.2.1 Brief History of Ghana’s Transition  
Ghana transitioned to political independence on 6 March 1957, from Great Britain when Dr. 
Kwame Nkrumah and the Convention People’s party won all the elections conducted by the 
Colonial Government in 1951, 1954, and 1956 (Anaman & Bukari, 2019; Buah, 1998; 
Davidson, 1972). The country experiences a period of political instability of 27-years from the 
first military coup of 24 February 1966 to 7 January 1992, when the fourth republican 
constitution was promulgated. This came in the form of five successful and several 
unsuccessful military coups (Anaman, 2006; Anaman & Bukari, 2019). However, since 
attaining independence, Ghana has witnessed four democratic transitions from military rule to 
civilian rule. 
 
In the 1990s, several African countries, including Ghana were confronted with political 
pressures for democratic reforms (Frempong & Asare, 2017; Kumah-Abiwu, 2011), with 
elections being regarded as the true and acceptable way of changing regimes (Ayee, 2016). 
Being central to democracy, frequent and competitive elections afford the citizenry the right to 
sanction the performance of an incumbent government. The current transition dubbed the 
Fourth Republic is the focus of this research. The fourth republic began with the November-
December elections in 1992, this saw Ghanaians electing a new government to climax their 
fight not to live under any form of military regime but a democratically elected government, 
(Ninsin, 2016). Since that landmark election, Ghana has been praised for conducting successful 
multiparty elections for the past 25 years (Asante & Asare, 2017; Owusu-Mensah, 2015), and 
the country has stabilized and conducted several democratic transitions every four years, 
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chalking three turnovers in the process, thereby consolidating its democracy (Amakye-
Boateng, Gyamfi, & Afrane, 2019; Ninsin 2016). And the entire country has embraced, 
elections as the means of changing power in line with the dictates of democracy (Gyekye-
Jandoh, 2017). 
 
2.2.2 The First Inter-Party Transition (2000/2001) 
The first test towards democratic consolidation came in the year 2000 when the elections 
conducted in that year were won by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) over the 
incumbent National Democratic Congress (NDC). In 2000 after the elections, both the 
incoming and the outgoing political elite groups formed a transition team on the spur of the 
moment (Ninsin, 2016). Thus, two rival political groups are to meet and decide on the 
modalities of the transition and to implement it. The transition team met on 1st January 2001 
barely a week to manage the process of handing over the political and administrative power on 
7 January 2001, a move believed by many that the NDC never thought of losing the elections 
so did not prepare for it (Asante, 2019). Many Scholars including Joyce (2015) are of the view 
that that transition was divisive and damaging to the countries emerging democracy. There 
were serious concerns about trust regarding the process and counter-accusations due to a lack 
of information, the process nurtured a regime of acrimony between the new and old 
administration leading to delay in the policy direction of the new government (Joyce, 2015). 
 
The lack of information, according to Asante (2019) lead to the seizure of vehicles and other 
assets of former government officials which stained the transition process. It was difficult to 
distinguish between state property and private one. A case in point was when four vehicles 
belonging to the state were confiscated from the former vice president and the defeated 
presidential candidate of the 2000 election, John Evans Atta Mills which subjected him to 
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public ridicule (Doworkpor, 2017; Ghanaweb, 2002). These challenges, however, spear the 
need for a formal regulatory framework to ensure a smooth and orderly transition in the future 
(Joyce, 2015). 
 
2.2.3 The Second Inter-Party Transition (2008/2009) 
The year 2008 saw yet another landmark achievement in the fourth republic because for the 
second time an opposition party NDC has outstared the incumbent NPP to power. This meant 
power must change hands again and the representatives of the two rival parties must meet face 
to face to consummate a process in which both had a huge stake which was a recipe for open 
hostility and acrimonious exchanges (Ninsin, 2016).     
 
Again, no legal framework existed to guide the process, but there was a marginal improvement 
from the 2000/2001 transition. This time around there were improved transition notes and 
reports prepared by civil servants and Presidential Aids (Joyce 2015). Another plus for the 
2008/2009 transition was the formation of the transition team which was formed on January 4, 
2009, to manage and plan the successful execution of the presidential inauguration (Asante, 
2019). These improvements helped the new government eased into governance and maintain 
focus on effective projects and programs (Joyce, 2015). Thus, unlike the 2000/2001 transition 
which had only the previous political past of coups de tat to draw lessons from, the 2008/2009 
transition benefited from the experience of the first transition for a relatively improved 
transition process. (Asante, 2019).  
 
But the events of the first transitions did cast its shadows, the transition witnessed seizures of 
vehicles and other vehicles purportedly belonging to the state with officials of the Bureau of 
National Investigations (BNI) visiting homes of some past ministers to search for an alleged 
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139 missing public vehicles (Nkansah, 2012). In effect, this trend when continue could have a 
serious repercussion on the infant democracy of the country. 
 
2.2.4 The Presidential Transition Act and the 2016/2017 Transitions  
As earlier projected, the 2000 and 2008 transitions were fraught with challenges that are 
injurious to the democratic consolidation of the country, hence the need for a regulatory 
framework to guide transitions. A framework for guiding transitions became necessary because 
issues of transitions had turn chaotic in the sub-region, hence the need for Ghana to maintain 
its image as a beacon of democracy (Asante 2019). 
 
The quest for Presidential Transition Act was initiated by President Kufuor when he established 
the Central Governance Project (CGP) to begin work on a legislative roadmap (Joyce, 2015). 
And in 2007 the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a privately-run Think tank teamed up 
with the CGP to start discussing the issue of transitional legislation with all political parties in 
Ghana. Together they came up with a model presidential transition document which later gave 
birth to the Presidential Transition Act, 2012 (Act 845).  
 
2.2.5 The Presidential Transition Act, 2012, Act 845 
The IEA-led coalition gave birth to the establishment of the presidential transition Act, 2012 
and this was subsequently used in the 2012/2013 and the 2016/1017 elections. According to 
the IEA (2013), the primary objective of the act was to offer an outline for managing the 
political transfer of power from an out-going democratically elected President to an incoming 
President. According to Gyampo et al. (2013) however, the Act was to deal with the acrimony 
and rancour that has characterized presidential transitions in Ghana. Ofori Mensah (2011) 
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believes that the Act stands on the key attributes of Transparency and Accountability, 
Institutional Clarity, and Time frame for managing transitions. 
 
• Transparency and Accountability: The Act was to forestall the incidence and violence as 
the Act requires outgoing officials to provide evidence of periodic stocktaking, and 
declaration of state properties that may be in their possession (Gyampo et al., 2013). To 
Gadugh (2017) the Act has killed the mischief of confiscation and seizure of property and 
assets in possession of the previous government. 
 
• Institutional Clarity: The Act mandates the setting up of the Presidential Estates Unit (PEU) 
which is tasked to keep an inventory, take custody, and maintain executive assets. The Unit 
was to be headed by the Administrator-General, who was to ensure the general procedural 
progress of the transition process. The Act also mandates the setting up of a transition team 
within twenty-four hours after the declaration of elections to directly manage the transition 
process. Again, the establishment of a three-member Advisory Council, with the Speaker 
of Parliament as the chairman to resolve conflicts in the transition process and bodies 
charged with the responsibility of playing various roles aimed at addressing the identified 
challenges of transitions and thereby, ensuring peaceful transitions (Asante, 2019). 
 
• Structured time frame: The Act gives clarity on when the transition team should be 
constituted (24 hours after the Electoral Commission declares the results). It states when 
parliament should be constituted and when ministers and other officials are to vacate their 
official residence and hand over state properties (Asante, 2019). 
 
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The crux of the Act is what has been discussed above but there was some amendment made in 
2016 (Ghana’s Parliament Amends Presidential Transition Act, 2016) the amendment changed 
the swearing-in of parliament from two days to that of the president to 24 hours before 
swearing-in of the president. In effect, the Act has addressed most of the lapses seen in the 
2000 and 2008 transitions. 
 
2.2.6 The Third Transition (2016/2017) 
The presidential transition act was first used in the 2012 transition; however, it was not tested 
in its entirety due to the intra-party nature of the transition (Gyampo et al., 2013). Again, in 
line with the contextual definition of transition by this paper, it is only proper to look at the 
2016 transition. 
 
The third major wave of transition was in 2016 when the NPP came back to power defeating 
the incumbent NDC’s John Dramani Mahama. This time after the declaration of the 2016 
presidential elections on December 9, 2016, the team was duly constituted on the 10th of 
December and was inaugurated on the 11th December (Newsghana.com, 2016). The Incumbent 
President John Dramani Mahama and the President-elect Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo 
were named as co-chairs of the Team.  Again, The Advisory Council, Handing-over notes, The 
Presidential Estates Unit, the Vacation of Official Residence, and the Swearing-in of the 
President were all constituted and executed their mandate as per the Act. However, what was 
to be a success was marred by some pockets of disagreements and rancour that smacks of the 
pre-Transitional Act era (Asante, 2019). The government in February 2017 formed a task force 
to identify, locate and retrieve state asserts that were yet to be handed over by the past 
administration (Office of the President’s letter No. OPS/452 vol. 4/17/139 dated 3rd February 
2017). In the process, Mr. Kofi Adam, the National Organizer of the NDC for instance, had 
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five of his vehicles seized which were later released to him (graphic.com, 2017) and Mr. Afriyie 
Ankrah, a former Minister for Youth and Sports, also had his vehicle seized causing him to 
accuse the government of exercising bad faith (Citinewsroom.com, 2018). 
 
2.2.7 Politics of Electoral Transitions in Ghana 
In Ghana transitional elections settles the matter of which political elite qualifies to exercise 
state power per the constitution (Ninsin, 2016). This, however, comes against the backdrop of 
an intense dispute over the control of state assets such as land, houses, cars, and at its low point, 
public toilets (Gyampo, 2010). Again, there is a dispute over the state of the economy, the 
national debt stock, the rate of inflation, etc. (Anaman, 2016). Thus, all the transitions that the 
country has witnessed, saw a dispute over who controls the wealth of the nation. 
 
It is a fact that there are tension, anxiety, and insecurity as a result of the transitional process 
and this has affected people in senior administrative and executive positions. The three 
transitions in Ghana have seen the in-coming government issuing a directive to all outgoing 
officials and political appointees to vacate the state-owned houses assigned to them and hand 
over their vehicles, these drugs on for the first few months of the new government as earlier 
stated (Joyce, 2015). Nisin (2016) contends that there are recrimination and anxiety within the 
ranks of the political elite such as the retention, redeployment, or retrenchment of public 
officers who were regarded as political appointees, including those engaged in the country’s 
diplomatic missions abroad. The new government’s policy always affects the heads of a wide 
range of state institutions such as the civil service (e.g., Chief Directors and Directors), public 
corporations (engaged in production, and service delivery), educational institutions, district 
assemblies, governing councils of public boards and corporations, the Council of State, and the 
Bank of Ghana (Ninsin, 2016). The governing councils and officers of the security and quasi-
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security agencies are also reconstituted. Between May and July 2009, the President made about 
272 new appointments to the governing boards/councils of not less than 60 state/public bodies. 
All this is normally done within the first few months into the new administrations when the 
new government has dissolved the previous governing boards and councils (Ninsin, 2016). 
These changes leave the top hierarchy of the affected public services in a state of uncertainty 
as they wait for vacancies to be filled for new policy direction.   
At the individual level, transition politics is seen as a sense of loss, fear, and insecurity among 
politicians and political appointees, public sector administrators, and their relations (Gyampo 
& Graham, 2017). The affected persons might have occupied key decision-making positions at 
various levels of state and quasi-state institutions; others may remain in their current official 
positions but would be weighed down by a sense of uncertainty and fear (Attafuah 2013). 
Invariably personal responses to the tense transition situation impacted adversely on state 
institutions in various ways – either as institutional weakness or as institutional paralysis 
(Gyampo & Graham 2017).  
 
The tension, uncertainty about one’s position or the direction of public policy under the 
incoming government, the fear of redeployment, retrenchment, or fear of prosecution, 
cumulatively affected the morale, disposition, and commitment to work on the part of people 
operating in the institutions of the state (Ijon, 2019). Similarly, uncertainty about the policy 
direction of the new government, including policies and attitude towards the private sector, 
especially concerning macro-economic management policy, the state’s fiscal matters, as well 
as the management of existing contracts, including payment of arrears owed to the private 
sector companies and its debtors affected the capacity of private sector corporate entities to do 
business (Ahwoi, 2011). 
 
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2.3 Concept of Bureaucracy 
Bureaucracy is inevitable to the composition of the state and thus forms an integral part of the 
workings of the modern state, it is the basic means for policy implementation and vital to the 
governance of a country (Makinde, 2005; Vogler, 2019).  Olatunji (2013) believes that 
bureaucracy exists to manage large state institutions to be more efficient and accountable for 
the people. And that governments create public bureaucracy as a means of distributing state 
resources to the people (Appiah & Abdulai, 2017b). It is the public bureaucracy that determines 
what should be done; how it should be done and who benefits (Osawe, 2015).  According to 
Appiah and Abdulai (2017b), interest groups and individuals jostle for the control of 
bureaucracies because it is the vehicle used by the government for the distribution of resources. 
Putting more weight on the centrality of bureaucracy is the “god” of the concept, Max Weber 
who belies that it is the ideal and rational type of administration useful for the achievement of 
positive results (Weber, 1964). 
 
The term bureaucracy is a browed term from the field of sociology into the field of public 
administration (Akume, 2012). It was derived from two words “bureau‟ and “Kratos.” The 
word “bureau” refers to the office, while the Greek suffix “Kratos” means power or rule or the 
power of the office (Wasim, 2011). Scholars like Appiah and Abdulai (2017b:2) in 
conceptualizing the term contends that it is used in two main ways in public Administration 
literature but went ahead to conceptualize it in line with Max Weber’s ideal type of bureaucracy 
as “formal legal organization with a hierarchical structure of authority whereby merit-based 
criteria are used to appoint, retain, promote, and reward or sanction officials who perform 
functionally specialized duties in an impersonal manner”.  As a concept bureaucracy has been 
at the receiving end of several criticisms from various scholars (Osawe, 2014). Some scholars 
see it as an ambivalent term that can be taken to mean different things, Akindele, Olaopa, and 
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Obiyan (2002). Again, to Sarker and Wu (2019) bureaucracy means a group of policymakers 
and administrators from the nonelective process who are characterized by skill and exercise the 
power of government or public administration under constitutional rules and hierarchy of 
authority. Though bureaucracy is an indispensable part of the government system, sometimes 
it is considered a threat to democracy. In developing countries, bureaucracy uses its power 
under the illegal support of elective representatives and gradually becomes a democratic threat 
(Delaporte & Maurel 2018). All the above definitions are adopted for trying to answer the 
questions of politicisation of the appointment of senior bureaucrats in this research.   
 
Bureaucrats on the other hand are public administrators who are appointed to work under the 
executive arm of government (Mohammed, 2018). therefore, Senior bureaucrats by this paper 
refer to the administrators occupying the higher echelons of the bureaucratic set-up in Ghana 
(Chief Directors, Chief Executive Officers) and are to be apolitical in the discharge of their 
functions. 
 2.4 Ghana’s Public Service 
The public services of Ghana amongst others include the civil service, the judicial service, the 
education service, customs, excise, and preventive services. However, this section looks at the 
Public Service Commission (PSC), the Civil Service Commission (CSC), and the Politics of 
Public Service Recruitment. 
2.4.1 The Public Service Commission 
The PSC has a checked history dating back to 1947 when the colonial government adopted the 
recommendations of the Harini Committee for the formation of public services commissions 
in the colonies of the Gold Coast, Nigeria, the Gambia, and Sierra Leone. 
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Article 194 (1) of the 1992 Constitution states that “there shall be a Public Services 
Commission which shall perform such functions as assigned to it by this Constitution or by any 
other law. In article 196, it is stated that “The Public Services Commission shall have such 
powers and exercise such supervisory, regulatory and consultative functions as Parliament 
shall, by law, prescribe, including as may be applicable, the supervision and regulation of 
entrance and promotion examinations, recruitment, appointment into or promotions within the 
Public Services and the establishment of guidelines on the terms and conditions of employment 
in the public services”. 
Under the current dispensation, the Public Service Commission (PSC) was formed in 1994 by 
an Act of Parliament (Act 482) according to Chapter 14 of the 1992 Constitution. It comprises 
of the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson; three full-time members; and the Chairperson of the 
National Council for tertiary education; and three individuals with considerable experience in 
the administration of public services. 
According to the law establishing it, the duties of the commission include, but are not limited 
to: advise the Government on the mode for appointment to public offices as well as persons to 
hold or act in public offices; promote efficiency, accountability, and integrity in the public 
services; prescribe appropriate systems and procedures for the management of personnel 
records within the public services; identify, explore and promote the recruitment of suitable 
personnel into the public services acting in collaboration with educational authorities; provide 
a standard framework for evaluating and classifying jobs in the public services; and to oversee 
the human resources development activities of the public services organization to ensure 
planning and career development in the public services. The President acting in consultation 
with the Council of State appoints the Chairman and other Members of the Commission. The 
security, autonomy, and sanctity of the PSC are also reinforced in this section of the Act.  
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2.4.2 The Civil Service 
In Ghana, the civil service is an integral part of the public services. It is surcharged for the 
execution of government policies and programs in Ghana. They do not only keep the machinery 
of government running but also provide services to the Ghanaian public. It is the largest 
employer of the Ghanaian workfare, providing some 3,820,705 (PBB-HCS, 2019) Ghanaians 
work to do. Even though they are not to be political, they form part of the executive branch of 
government, a major part of the public services of Ghana and which is directly under the full 
regulation of the Public Service Commission. The Ghanaian Civil service is one of the lasting 
legacies of the colonial rule in Ghana as its hierarchical arrangement is along with the British 
Civil Service. The head of the civil service is appointed by the president with the advice of the 
Public Service Commission, which is a constitutional provision. The Public Service 
Commission (PSC) oversees staffing in both public and civil service in Ghana. The Civil 
Service Law, 1993 PNDCL 327, states the mission of the civil service is “to assist the 
Government in the formulation and implementation of government policies for the 
development of the country.” Functions of the civil service include the execution of day-to-day 
government policies; the collection of revenue for the government; acting as a conduit between 
the general public and the government (explaining the policies of the government to the people 
and, on the other hand, getting input from the people to the government on any policies that 
are being implemented); advises the government on how to execute a new policy direction and 
strategy for the good of the public or otherwise; it, therefore, provides for stability (thus the 
Civil Servant is expected to be non-partisan and therefore functions to serve every government 
that comes into power). 
 
 
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2.4.3 Head of The Ghana Civil Service (HCS) 
The Head of the Ghana Civil Service, as the name suggests, is the head of the entire Ghana 
civil service. He is answerable to the President through the Civil Service Council.  He 
implements the decisions of the Civil Service Council. On a day-to-day basis, he manages the 
entire service through the Management Services Division (MSD), PRAAD, and the various 
Directorates at OHCS. 
 
2.4.4 The Chief Director (CD) 
The Chief Director, the bureaucratic head, and the spending officer of the OHCS.  The Chief 
Director is the chief advisor to the Head of the Civil Service on all matters relating to the 
smooth operations of the OHCS and the Civil Service in general.  The Chief Director also 
coordinates the activities of the various Directorates and Units of the OHCS. 
 
2.4.5 Politics of Recruitment into the PS 
Recruitment into the public sector is based on meritocracy and non-discriminatory. The 
appointment and recruitment of employees of the Ghanaian civil service are carried out by the 
Public Services Board. Civil servants, irrespective of their political affiliation, cultural or 
religious background, are required by law to remain impartial to partisan politics. They're 
expected to represent the government of the day. For example, Article 26(1) of the Political 
Parties Act forbids elected authorities from speaking out in favour of or against a political party 
or a candidate running for election (Asante & Gyimah- Boadi 2004). However, many scholars 
including Asamoah and Yeboah-Assiamah (2018:8) and Asante and Gyimah- Boadi (2004) 
believe this can only be found on paper and does not reflect the real situation on the ground. 
The standards for entry, promotion, transfer, and termination of appointment are done to suit 
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social and political class and that politicians and bureaucrats reward their loyal supporters with 
well-paid and juicy contracts, this has compromised on the neutrality of the PS (Asamoah 
&Yeboah-Assiamah, 2018). There is a widespread perception that cronyism, family and 
friends, nepotism, and ethnicity have also plagued appointment into the PS, however, with 
regards to the Head of Public Service Commission, Head of Civil Service, and Chief Director, 
the ethnic card could not be backed by any real data (Asante & Gyimah- Boadi 2004). 
 
2.5 Other Related Concepts 
2.5.1 Patronage 
Patronage has been around long enough to take its place amongst the much-researched concept 
in Public Administration and Politics literature, Grindle (2012) in her book, Jobs for the boys 
describes it as a system for all-season giving, credence to its ubiquitous and survival for 
centuries as well as regimes. It is generally conceived as a type of particularistic interaction 
between patrons and clients that has occurred in both conventional and contemporary cultures, 
in both democratic and non-democratic systems, in diverse forms of organizations, and at the 
local, state, national, and even supranational level (Kopecký, Mair & Spirova, 2012). Patronage 
may be considered as a butter trading procedure where an array of goods are exchanged 
between the patron (political leader) and client (party loyalties), thus the political leader offers 
“goods” in the form of laws, exposure to the regulatory system, services that are public, in 
some cases accommodation or employment in juicy positions in exchange for (alleged) 
assistance in winning elections, campaign money or donations, party loyalty, and vital 
information and strategy accessible to the client (Ennser-Jedenastik 2014). Even though there 
are several forms of patronage this work will review the literature around the field of Party 
Patronage which will help address the objectives set out in this research. 
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Party patronage in a more generic way is understood to mean ‘the use of public resources in 
particularistic and direct exchanges between clients and party politicians’ (Müller, 2006 cited 
by Ennser-Jedenastik, 2014). Ennser-Jedenastik (2014) believes that many scholars of public 
administration consider patronage as illegality. A greater number of scholars believe that 
patronage is an affront to democracy, rule of law, and a typical characteristic of a decay political 
system (Bearfield, 2009). It is this position taken by scholars like Bearfield (2009) that made 
others conclude that the focal or epicentre of patronage is in developing countries (Kopecký, 
2011) where political decay is almost a feature. On the other hand; Jean Blondel (2002) posits 
that the support base of a party is very vital to democracy and the overall political system and 
that patronage is one of the ways of linking the government of the day to the rank and file as 
well to the apparatus of the state. A position shared by Flinders and Mathews (2010) and Muller 
(2000) even though they contend that the process is not reflective of a strong democratic 
process and does not promote probity and accountability. 
 
Even though the above explains, patronage to the core, this paper is zeroing down on the 
appointment of senior bureaucrats cloaked with rewards for their loyalty and party support in 
electoral transition. To this end, Kopecký and Scherlis (2008) believe that party patronage is 
the power of a party to appoint people to positions in public and semi-public life. However, the 
broader effect of patronage has been the reward and control (Kopecký et al., 2012). Thus, with 
reward, the party hands out positions and jobs to party members for party loyalty, control, and 
influence on policies (Ennser-Jedenastik, 2014). 
 
 
 
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2.5.1.2 Patronage in Ghana 
Ghana being a developing country may not be immune to the assertion espoused by Kopecký 
et al. (2012), that patronage exists in most developing counties. Even though much has not 
been documented on patronage in the country, Kopecký (2012) believes that both the NDC and 
the NPP who won elections since 1992, have all engage in acts of patronage in an equal measure 
must especially with the appointment of senior bureaucrats in Ghana. Comparing Ghana and 
South Africa, motivation is higher for patronage in Ghana, and that almost all sectors within 
the bureaucratic set-up witness appointments when there is a change of government with the 
Judiciary only least affected (Kopecký, 2013). 
 
2.5.2 Clientelism in Ghana 
Closely related to patronage is clientelism. Most scholars use the terms interchangeably, so it 
is important to review some findings of the politicisation of Ghana’s bureaucracy with regard 
to clientelism.  According to Hicken (2020) Clientelism generally is the exchange of goods and 
services for political support based on a two-way relationship, called Dynamic relationship, 
or delivery of service by a politician, called Contingency relationship; Hierarchy 
relationship on the other hand involves a politician in a higher and citizens in a lower position 
and a continuous relationship termed Iteration.  
 
In their study on Competitive clientelism and the politics of core public sector reform in Ghana, 
Appiah, and Abdulai (2017a) reviled that, clientelism exists in most Ministries in Ghana’s 
public sector, and this has compromised on the quality and effectiveness of those ministries. 
Again Gyimah-Boadi and Yakah (2012) in Appiah and Abdulai (2017a) posits that there are 
constant clirntelisation and politicisation of the bureaucratic set-up of the country which has 
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almost always resulted in ineffectiveness and the appointment of senior bureaucrats based on 
presidential fiat and political affiliation other than merit has contributed to this ineffectiveness.  
 
Hopper (2017) and Lassou (2017) believe that the danger that the clientelist nature of some 
institutions in the country assumes, is dangerous not only for the effectiveness of the public 
service but also it is an aberrance to good governance, public sector reforms, development 
planning, and accountability. 
 
2.5.3 Winner-Takes-All 
Closely related and given meaning to the topic under discussion and zeroing in on answering 
the research questions posed is the concept of Winner-Takes-All. As reiterated earlier the 
powers given to the executive president under the fourth republican constitution have caught 
the attention of several scholars (Debrah 2005; Ninsin 2008). It is widely believed that the 
power of appointment given to the president is all-embracing that ought to be given a second 
look. Scholars like Boafo-Arthur (2003) and Gyampo (2015) strongly contend that these 
powers can only be meaningful if it is exercised based on meritocracy, all-inclusiveness, and 
partnership with other political elites. These uncontrolled powers given to the president has so 
many consequences and paramount amongst them is the power of appointment (Ahwoi, 2011; 
Oquaye, 2013) which does not only breed dictatorship within the ruling elite but also 
undermine constitutionalism and weaken state institutions in the discharge of their mandates 
(Gyampo & Graham, 2014). 
 
By way of definition, Ijon (2019) is of the view that WTA is a zero-sum game of the 
electioneering process, where the winner of an election takes the total gory and benefits 
associated with the election. While Gyampo (2016:5) is also of the opinion that WTA is an 
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“extremely divisive and partisan sub-culture that excludes all the other Ghanaians who do not 
constitute the ruling party from the national governance and decision making in a manner that 
dissipates the much-needed talents and brains for national development.”  Thus, WTA is the 
conscious effort aim at excluding and marginalizing citizens who are not part of the ruling 
class.  
 
2.5.3.1 Effects of WTA on the Politicisation of Ghana’s Bureaucracy 
Like any social science concept WTA has both positive and negative effects on the political 
dispensation in the country. With regards to the politicisation of Ghana’s bureaucracy. Ijon 
(2019) posits that WTA leads to a conscious wastage of the human resources of the country. 
Thus, all the nurtured brains within the bureaucratic set-up of the country are relegated to the 
appointment of the new order, who may be party loyalties’ and hence rewarded for their hard 
work into bringing the political elite to power, this leads to a total wastage of the human 
resource of the country. Again, the ruling elite does not even give the neutral Ghanaian who 
may be apolitical any appointment. In effect, appointments are made on party membership and 
one’s contribution to the party’s success (Ijon, 2019). To curb this, there should be a 
constitutional review commission to review article 195 of the 1992 constitution to reduce the 
extensive power of appointment given to the president Ijon, 2019. 
 
Again, the powers of the Executive President given by the constitution to make appointment 
makes him/her the dominant public figure in all aspect of public affairs (Ijon, 2019). Article 
195 of the 1992 constitution states that “…the power to appoint persons to hold or act in an 
office in the public services shall be vested in the President…’ since the president has that 
overburdened power of appointment his actions does not only affect the public service but also 
the other arms of government, thereby affecting accountability. There should be a review of 
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the 1992 constitution to tie the hands of the executive president to appoint other members of 
the opposing party and neutral Ghanaians (Ijon, 2019). 
 
The WTA posture of the 1992 constitution has characterized all regimes under the fourth 
republic in a divisive manner and the public sector is no exception (Gyampo & Graham, 2016). 
And that the feeling of exclusion and rejection in the governing process and the trickling effect 
on Ghana’s bureaucratic set-up is inimical to good governance a situation which was never 
anticipated by the designers of the 1992 constitution (Abotsi 2013). The president of the day 
must be encouraged to extend a hand to other opposing parties for competent people to govern 
the country (Abotsi 2013). 
 
Again, appointments based on meritocracy are relegated to the background, leading to square 
pegs in round holes, with catastrophic consequences on national development (Abotsi, 2013; 
IEA, 2014). Thus, appointments are made for political expediency to only bureaucrats who are 
partisan and have paid their dues in the electioneering process, to the marginalization of the 
entire citizenry who may not be party apparatchiks (Gyampo 2010). To help in solving the 
above Gyampo and Graham (2017) are of the view that, the appointment of senior bureaucrats 
must be transparent, competitive, well-advertised, inclusive, bi-partisan, and based on 
competence. 
 
The Independence, competence, professionalism, and performance of Ghana’s Bureaucratic 
set-up are compromised with the excessive powers of appointment given to the president, given 
that some of these institutions established under the constitution are to be independent, protect 
the citizens against the arbitrary use of the powers of the president (Gyampo & Graham, 2017).   
The legal instruments establishing the State Enterprises Commission/Public Service 
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Commission must be revisited for a possible reduction of the role and influence of the executive 
president (Gyampo & Graham 2017). 
  
The extensive powers of the executive have led to a practice of appointing chief directors by 
the president to head public services which neutralize and compromise efficiency within the 
public service (Gyampo & Graham 2017). This according to Oquaye (2013) and Prempeh 
(2003) undermines the role of chief directors and other senior officers in the administration of 
the public service and renders them gullible and manipulative in the hands of the executive. 
Gyampo and Graham (2017) however believe that to curb this practice A strong tenure-track 
and technocratic public service must be established, there should be an efficient body staffed 
by competent people that can manage the affairs of the country without the interference of an 
elected government or coalition.  
 
In sum, the WTA posture of the 1992 constitution of Ghana has led to revelations towards the 
politicisation of the bureaucracy in Ghana as espoused by the scholars above. 
 
2.6 Politicisation of Bureaucracy 
Politics is ubiquitous, so it is not surprising that the bureaucracy in Ghana and other developing 
countries is perceived to be politicised. The politicisation of bureaucracy is the replacement of 
impersonal principles of the functions of bureaucracy with personal principles (Appiah & 
Abdulai, 2017b). Specifically, Peters and Pierre (2004) in their attempt to define the 
politicisation of bureaucracy believed that less or no emphasis is placed on meritocracy when 
it comes to selection, retention, promotion, and rewarding public servants. Thus, recruitment, 
dismissal, and posting of bureaucrats go against the ethics of neutrality of the public service 
(Mulgan, 1998). According to Ennser-Jedenastik (2014), the Politicisation of Bureaucracy may 
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be policy-related, managerial, or partisan. Policy related (Mulgan 1998) is of the view that 
recruitment, dismissal, or promotion of bureaucrats is based on their disposition towards a 
particular policy. Managerial politicisation, however, relates to the sacking of a senior or top 
civil servant and replacing them with a party person, when there is a change of government. 
Partisan Politicisation is loosely related to Managerial politicisation, but here political party 
members are rewarded for their roles in winning political power to civil service positions 
(Thabane, 2017). All forms of Politicisation have not been ranked or ordered, however, 
scholars like Peters and Pierre (2014) believe that the worst form of politicisation is where 
recruitment and dismissal or promotion of bureaucrats is akin to their partisan politics and deep 
clientelist allegiance to those in authority. This paper conceptualizes the politicisation of 
bureaucracy to mean all of the above. 
 
2.6.1 Effects of Politicisation of Bureaucracy 
Like many concepts of public administration, the politicisation of bureaucracy has both positive 
and negative effects. 
 
2.6.1.1 Positive Effects 
Thinking emotionally may make one wonder why some scholars believe that, the politicisation 
of bureaucracy has a positive effect. But to those scholars’ politicisation is good due to the 
following reasons: 
• Trust is of the essence in politics and that putting the resources, policy direction and 
technical competence that come with the execution of the mandate of a party in power into 
the hands of party loyalties or sympathizes of the government will make them succeed 
(Sossin, in Matheson, Weber, Manning & Arnould, 2007). 
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• Again Panainte-Culeac (2012) is of the view that the political agenda should be supreme 
and so must not be left in the hands of technical career bureaucrats who may have a different 
belief towards those policies. 
 
•  Others are of the view that it heightens greater accountability from the bureaucrats as they 
know the consequences of not acting (Mulgan 1998). 
 
•  It is also an avenue to making sure that bureaucrats are whip in line with the electoral 
preferences of the electorate after winning a democratically held election (Bersch, Praça, 
& Taylor, 2017). 
 
• Other scholars believe that some party loyalties appointed based on their affiliation to a 
political party get entangle in the bureaucratic nature of doing things thereby not cottoning 
to the whims of their appointing authorities (Peters &Pierre 2004).  
 
 
2.6.1.2 Negative Effects 
Scholars like Asamoah and Yeboah-Assiamah (2018) however, believe that all the benefits that 
a country tends to derive from a bureaucrat who is apolitical are derailed by the politicisation 
of the bureaucracy. This section presents the negative effects of the politicisation of 
bureaucracy. 
 
• According to Peters (2004) when a public service is politicized it is tinted by inefficiency 
and slows down the fluidity with which government policies and programmes must flow. 
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They again posit that, when partisan senior officers are appointed, it leaves in its way a 
huge question of fairness from the officers in the discharge of their duties (Peter and Pierre 
2004). 
 
• Also, there is always a syndrome of mistrust between the technocrats and the politicians 
when there is a change of government (Mulgen, 1998) which does not promote continuity. 
 
• Again, it dumps the spirit of the career bureaucrats and stifles his promotion (Pierre 2004). 
 
• Some scholars are of the view that the bane and decline of the public service in most 
developing countries is a result of interference by politicians (Shergold 2005).  
 
• Thabane (2017) believes that those appointed by politicians in most cases lack the technical 
competence to act, and, in most cases, use emotions at the expense of professionalism. 
 
2.7 Chapter Conclusion 
The Chapter highlighted the literature on the politicisation of the bureaucratic set-up in the 
country with a special interest in administrators occupying the top echelons of the bureaucracy 
in Ghana, as well as the theories underpinning this research.  The Political Settlement theory 
and the Politics-Administration theory served as the underpinning theories. The Chapter also 
critically examined the literature on electoral transitions, bureaucracy, Winner-Takes-All as 
well as the politicisation of the Ghanian bureaucracy in Ghana’s fourth republic.    It was 
evident that Ghana’s political system since 1992 can best be described as one churning the path 
of competitive clientelism (Abdulai & Hickey, 2016) which has led to the politicisation of the 
bureaucratic state institution through patronage appointments (Appiah & Abdulai, 2017a).  
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Again, the reviewed literature suggests that electoral transitions in the fourth republic have 
been acrimonious, creating a block of winners and losers amongst the ruling elite (NPP & 
NDC) (Ninsin, 2016); given rise to clientelism and patronage. This is as a result of the 
politician’s desire to clutch on to power and the seeming threat of losing it, not to talk of the 
four-year election period given by the constitution in Ghana, thus political leaders have little 
or no incentive to equip in the futuristic policy of building the capacity of the bureaucratic 
institutions (Appiah & Abdulai, 2017a; Levy, 2014) but rather to politicise the appointment of 
senior bureaucrats who will intern do their bidding.   
Also, some scholars believe politicisation is good due to trust and loyalty guaranteed from the 
bureaucrats appointed by the executive (Sossin, in Matheson et al., 2007). Others however 
believe that it derails the service of the necessary technical competence, neutrality, and 
hierarchy which the proponents of the separation of politics from the administration, are 
clamoring for (Demir & Nyhan, 2008). 
In sum, the literature reviewed above points to the fact that the extensive powers of the 
president under the 1992 constitution have fueled the politicisation of the Ghanaian 
bureaucratic set-up (Gyampo & Graham 2017) and for that matter the interference of the 
appointments of senior bureaucrats. 
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CHAPTER THREE 
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 
3.0 Introduction  
Methods and strategies employed in scientific research give it the necessary acceptance and 
credibility in the larger sphere of academia. This chapter details the necessary methods and 
strategies that this research adopted, it considers the research philosophy or paradigm, design, 
the population considered as well as the data sources. The research instruments, procedure, 
data analysis, and ethical issues that, were considered. The chapter ends by making a strong 
linkage with how the objectives and questions of the study were achieved. 
 
3.2 Research Paradigm 
The worldview, beliefs, and philosophical assumptions of a researcher, characterizes scientific 
research. What the researcher considers as knowledge, truth, or worthy of consideration in 
conducting scientific research, of a society or population is determined by their worldview and 
philosophical assumptions. In social science research, it is considered a paradigm. According 
to Creswell and Creswell, 2017, a research paradigm or philosophy is the summation of all the 
beliefs and values (worldview) of a researcher, that guides research being undertaken. In effect, 
a research paradigm or philosophy elucidates how and what should be researched and how 
findings should be arrived at and interpreted. 
 
As a prerequisite of scientific research, this research adopted the interpretive research paradigm 
to study and interoperate the study elements by inculcating the human factor into the 
phenomenon of study. The proponents of the interpretivist paradigm are of the view that the 
world is better understood by interaction with the elements of a social phenomenon. Thus, what 
is termed reality is a social construct (Tuli, 2010). The interpretivist paradigm is used to helping 
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a researcher to gain a deeper understanding of the varied and diverse worldview of people 
which is greatly influenced by beliefs and value systems (Boateng, 2016) 
 
Again, the interpretivist paradigm helped to advance the understanding of the assumptions of 
social phenomena attributed to by the population under study. In discovering the reality of the 
assessments, thoughts, or views and experiences of the participants (Thanh & Thanh, 2015) 
towards assessing the politicisation of the appointment of senior public servants in electoral 
transitions. It is worthy of note that, adopting this research approach, emphasizes the 
consequences of the parameters and the data taken as well as seeking deeper knowledge and 
understanding of participants' experiences (Thanh & Thanh, 2015).  
 
3.3 Research Approach 
This research employed qualitative research for data collection, interpretation, and analysis to 
solve the research questions and objectives posed. Qualitative research according to Creswell 
and Creswell, 2017 is a research method used for exploring as well as understanding what 
researchers ascribed to elements or population of the study. It was adopted because the topic is 
not widely researched and the subject area has not been widely addressed (Creswell & 
Creswell, 2017). 
 
With a qualitative approach adopted, some directors and workers of Ministries, Departments 
and Agencies (MDAs) within the Ghanaian Public Sector, academic professors, and research 
fellows working with some think-tanks and Civil Society Organisation (CSOs), relevant to 
answering the research questions posed by this research were interviewed for relevant 
information using an interview guide. The qualitative research approach was considered 
because it affords the respondents the chance to narrate their own experiences concerning the 
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issue of the political interference of government in the appointment contract of senior public 
servants during political transitions in Ghana. Again, with this approach, the biases of the 
responders were elicited, thus their value judgments which may conflict with the general 
perception was eliminated (Wang, 2013).   
 
Again, the qualitative research approach was used because it affords the researcher the chance 
to interact fully with officials selected within the sample, seeking their in-depth knowledge of 
the research questions and the objectives. (Creswell, 2014; Flick, 2013). Thus, it allows 
participants to give their experiences and views, no matter how complex the phenomena under 
study were.  
 
3.4 Research Setting 
Ghana is a unitary state, with a strongly decentralized system of governance. But despite this 
accolade, this research was conducted in Accra. This is because the appointment of top or 
senior public officials is being done in Accra where almost all, of the National headquarters of 
Ministries, Departments, and Agencies are located. Again, being the seat of the Ghanaian 
government, it is presumed that all the political decisions emanated from Accra. 
Accra is the administrative capital of Ghana and is in the southern part of the country. Even 
though it is the smallest Region, covering an area of 3245-kilometer square or 1.4 percent of 
the total area in Ghana, it is having the highest population density in the country, mainly due 
to migration and the and unitary nature of the Ghanaian Administrative system (Ghana 
Statistical Service, 2013). It houses the seat of government, parliament, the highest court of the 
land, and head office to several MDAs, which explains the divergent nature of the region.  
 
 
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3.5 Population  
The research population consists of public services which include the civil service, academic 
scholars with publications relating to the research area, and think-tanks and CSOs in the 
research settings. This is to enhance the depth of the information taking cognizance of the 
knowledge that, the population offered, in achieving the overall research objective.  Thus, the 
population had technical knowledge and expertise relating to the politicisation of the 
appointment of senior public officials in an electoral transition in Ghana.  
 
3.6 Inclusion Criteria  
The selected population above was considered, based on how the topic is sensitive to the overall 
development of the country, their work can undermine the executive and make them unpopular. 
Again, the research considered individuals whose position at the various institutions was 
protected by the laws and Acts of Parliament and cannot be easily punished for partaking in 
this research. All participants included in this research have spent at least 5 years in their line 
of work and have witnessed a political transition in the country. This was aimed at getting the 
relevant and in-depth information that will help answer the research questions and objectives 
posed by the research. 
 
3.7 Exclusion Criteria  
The researcher exempted participants who did not fall within the public sector, academia and 
CSOs. Again, participants within the public sector, academia and CSOs who have less than 
five years of working experience with their various organisations or institutions were also 
exempted. The reason was that the researcher assumed that they do not have in-depth 
knowledge and relevant information on the politicisation of the appointment of senior 
bureaucrats in Ghana. 
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3.8 Sample Size  
In scientific research, the generalization of findings to the larger target population demands 
that a researcher samples his/her participant based on certain characteristics of the target 
population. By way of definition, sampling simply refers to a section of a target population 
under research (Bell, Bryman, & Harley, 2018) thus a segment or portion of the entire or larger 
population that a researcher has chosen to represent the larger population in his/her study 
(Creswell & Poth, 2017; Polit & Beck, 2010). 
This research considered eighteen (18) participants from the target population. According to 
Dworkin (2012), an extremely greater number of scholars are of the view that 5 to 50 
participants are adequate in conducting qualitative research. 
Again, the sampling was done bearing in mind the depth of knowledge of the participants 
considered brought to bear in answering the questions and objectives of the study. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Table 3. 1: Summary of Respondents Interviewed 
 
Selected Organisation(s) and 
Participant(s) 
Institution(s)  
Academia 
1. Associate Professor  
University of Ghana 2. Senior Lecturer  
3. Senior Lecturer 
 
Think tank/CSOs  
Institute for Democratic Governance 4. Senior Research Fellow /Programmes  
(IDEG) Director 
 
Centre for Democratic Governance 5. Senior Research Fellow                              
(CDD-Ghana) 6. Research Analyst  
IMANI-Centre of Policy and 
7. Research Consultant   
Education 
 
8.Programmes Manager                           
PenplusByte 
9. Research Assistant  
 
Public Services  
Public Services Commission  10. Deputy Director F&A  
Office of Head of Civil Service. 11. Assistant Director/Head of Reforms  
 
Ministry of Employment and Labour 12.Director F&A                                  
Relations. 13. Deputy Director of Research  
 
 
National Development Planning 14. Director F&A                                   
Commission (NDPC) 15. Director of Human Resource  
Office of the Senior Minister 16. Deputy Director F&A  
Ministry of Food and Agriculture 17. Director F&A  
Ministry of Local Government and 
18. Director F&A  
Rural Development. 
Total 18  
  
  Source: Field Data (2020) 
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3.9 Demography of Respondents 
The demographics considered under this section are gender, educational level, job position, 
and the number of years in an organization or as a professional of a chosen career. The 
background information of the participants was vital to putting the entire finding of the research 
into perspective and how best the research questions were answered. 
3.9.1 Gender  
Gender here dwelt much on the roles of participants other than, the sex distribution of the 
research, thus how both men and women understood the research questions and how best they 
related to them based on their roles. In this regard, eleven (11) participants were male and seven 
(7) were female. Both exhibited a depth of knowledge in their current positions and related 
well to the research questions based on their chosen career. The diversity of the distribution 
was key in making the research a credible one. 
 
3.9.2 Level of Education  
Concerning the level of education, three of the participants have a Doctor of Philosophy Degree 
(PhD) in disciplines related to governance and politics of which one is an Associate Professor 
(Assoc Prof) and the rest of the participants have a master’s degree from a diverse background. 
The level of education was key, because of the sensitive nature of the research questions to the 
positions occupied by some of the participants in their various institutions. 
 
3.9.3 Job Position 
The job positions of respondents comprise six (6) Directors at the various public service 
institutions, three (3) Deputy Directors, One (1) Assoc Prof., and Two (2) Senior lecturers. 
Others are Two (2) Senior Research fellows, Two (2) Research Assistants/Analysts, a Research 
Consultant, and a Programme Director, all with Think tanks/CSOs in Ghana. 
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The diversity of participates and job positions and descriptions helped further the richness of 
depth of the research towards providing answers to the research questions.  
 
3.9.4 Number of Working Years  
To further give credibility to the findings, the number of working years was taken into 
consideration. The directors of the various public institutions have worked for at least 10 years 
within the public sector while the professors in academia have at least worked for 7 years. The 
consultants with the CSOs have over 5yers of experience while the research fellows have been 
with their institutions for over 10 years serving in various capacities either on a full-time or 
part-time basis. The number of years was also key in terms of requisite skills and knowledge 
of the respondents towards providing answers to the research questions and objectives. 
 
3.10 Sampling Technique  
The nature of the research suits a purposive sampling technique, which scholars like Gentles, 
Charles, Ploeg and McKibbon (2015) believe is the most widely used technique in qualitative 
research. Purposive sampling is a non-probability method of sampling that gives the researcher 
the laxity of choosing their participants or elements of the target population to engage the entire 
research process (Boateng, 2016; Flick, 2014). To this end, Etikan and Bala (2017) contend 
that this technique gives the researcher, the go-ahead to select the elements that provide the 
relevant information for the phenomenon under study based on their judgment. Due to the novel 
and sensitive nature of the research, it was prudent to adopt a purposive sampling procedure to 
choose from the target population those with in-depth knowledge of the politicisation of the 
appointment of senior public officers in an electoral transition in Ghana. This to the best of the 
researcher’s knowledge was best in answering the questions and objectives of this research.  
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The greatest limitation of this research technique is the element of value judgment from the 
researcher and can be erroneous when not applied well (Alvi, 2016). 
 
3.11 Sources of Data  
The sources of data in any scientific research are central to answering the research questions 
and achieving the objectives of the research. This research adopted both primary and secondary 
data. 
 
3.11.1 Primary Data  
The information collected by the researcher directly on the field is referred to as the primary 
data. This is made up of interviews, experiments, and observations by the researcher (Mesly, 
2015; Mohajan, 2017). The study adopted a face-to-face interview to elicit the primary 
information from the sample of the target population made up of respondents from the public 
services, Experts in academia, and CSOs. The face-to-face interview enabled direct interaction 
between the researcher and the respondents. To facilitate the interview better to get the 
necessary information on time, an interview guide was developed. Interview guides assist the 
interviewer to get the right information from respondents (Etikan, Musa, & Alkassim, 2016). 
There were also some semi-structured interviews to further enrich the depth of the primary data 
(Bryman, 2017; McIntosh & Morse, 2015). 
 
3.11.2 Secondary Source 
In scientific research, Mesly (2015) believes that secondary data mostly complement the 
primary data collected from the field. This research considered textbooks, the internet, published 
journals, and organizational reports (e.g., Civil Service annual reports) scholarly articles, journals, 
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literature, and books that were relevant to the issue of politicisation of the appointment of senior 
public officials in an electoral transition in Ghana.  
 
3.12 Method of Data Collection  
This research conducted an in-depth face-to-face interview using a detailed interview guide. 
Participants were allowed to provide relevant information as well as contributions in addition 
to what is stated in the interview guide. The interviews were conducted in the English language.  
An introductory letter, introducing the researcher and research area was taken from the 
Department of Public Administration and Health Service Management to the target 
participants, an appointment was booked for the various interviews conducted. The 
introductory letter served as evidence that the work is an academic exercise. The interviews 
were conducted at a convenient time for the respondents. The conditionality and anonymity of 
the participants were assured and participants were made aware that, it is a voluntary exercise 
and they can opt-out at any point in time. The duration for each interview lasted for an average 
time of (35) minutes. The interview guide was made up of open-ended questions. The 
interviews were recorded but upon the approval of the participants.  
 
3.13 Data Analysis  
The data was analysed thematically in line with the objectives of the study. The audio 
recordings were transcribed exactly as it sounds into text. The data was read thoroughly and 
analysed in line with the six steps of qualitative analysis (Braun, Clarke, Hayfield & Terry, G, 
2019; Braun and Clarke, 2006). The researcher studied the depth and breadth of the content of 
the data. Initial codes were generated and this was assigned to the relevant data. Then the codes 
were translated into a broader theme. The theme was then reviewed and collapsed into each 
other breaking down some of the themes separately.  The researcher then defined the themes 
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and refine them for the analysis of the data within them. The refined themes were used in 
analysing the data. 
 
3.14 Ethical Consideration  
It is incumbent on the researcher to protect their right as well as the participants of a research 
piece, this is termed ethics in research (Fouka & Mantzorou, 2011).  
To this end, the researcher complied with all the laid down ethical standards of any academic 
research in the form of anonymity, confidentiality, and privacy of the participants. In designing 
scientific research, Creswell (2014) is of the view that ethical considerations cannot be 
compromised since objects of study are human beings. Again, participants were made aware 
that, partaking in the research is voluntary and can opt-out at any point and any stage of the 
process, even without any explanation, and this would be taken in good faith. According to 
McLeod (2015) participants must be allowed to leave or withdraw from an interview with their 
views, opinions, and information.  
 
All the ethical considerations were considered to ensure that no third party can trace the identity 
of the participants, the data collected was protected and participants would be made aware as 
to how the data was treated. Lastly, all the secondary data used was cited and duly 
acknowledged. 
 
 
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CHAPTER FOUR 
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 
4.0 Introduction  
This chapter examines the analysis and findings of the study. The general finding and the 
analysis are centred on the objective of the research. It looks at the appointment of senior 
bureaucrats as enshrined in the 1992 constitution and the politicisation of the appointment of 
senior bureaucrats in Ghana. Lastly, it considers some alternative causes of action proposed by 
the respondents considered under this research. The identity of respondents is not reviled to 
ensure their anonymity in the research. 
 
4.1 Why are the Appointment of Heads of Public Institutions Politicised in Ghana 
Appointments in Ghana have been perceived to be politicised as given credence by the civil 
service which is the largest group of the public sector in the country in its 2017 and 2018 Civil 
Service Annual Performance Report (CSAPR). In 2017 the report cited political interference 
as one of the challenges that stifle the operations of the service. It stated that there was  
“…frequent requests for the suspension or removal of some Chief Directors and 
Heads of organisations affected work in the Service” (CSAPR, 2017:71). 
This was further reiterated in the 2018 CSAPR under the caption “Political Administrative 
Interferences” which states that there was: 
“… unsolicited political intrusions into some purely administrative proceedings 
of the service. Some Political heads requested the suspension or removal of 
Chief Directors and Heads of an Organisation without recourse to laid-down 
administrative processes and structures. Such occurrences have the potential of 
marring the working environment and largely affecting productivity…” 
(CSAPR, 2018:59). 
 
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To have a deeper understanding of why this phenomenon happens, the respondent’s interviews 
came out with reasons that can be termed as the drivers of politicisation and some that are 
peculiar to the fourth republic.  
 
4.1.1 The Driving Factors of Politicisation in Ghana 
This section looks at the driving factors of politicisation of the Ghanaian bureaucracy which 
will be followed by other factors that are peculiar to the fourth republic. Amongst other factors, 
this research identified colonial legacy, game of trust and loyalty, the desire to fulfill social 
contract and party support/contribution, patronage, and clientelism as the general factors 
fueling politicisation in Ghana.  
 
4.1.1.1 Colonial Legacy 
Colonial Legacy or colonialism refers to the annexation of a weaker country by a stronger one 
to rule and exploit them of land and other resources (Mooney, 2020). Most of the respondents 
believe that it has contributed significantly to the politicisation of the country’s bureaucratic 
set-up and for that matter the interference of politicians in the appointment of senior 
bureaucrats. Notwithstanding the assertions by some scholars that, the colonial master left one 
of the most effective public services at independence (Aryee, 2013). 
 
One respondent aptly said that appointment was done by the queen through her governors who 
dish out positions only to those they think can promote the course of the colonial master. 
“From the cradle of colonization all higher appointments were done by the 
Queen, through her governors who appoint district colonial officials, that’s 
when all the politicisation began, they selected people whom they think and 
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believe would help them perpetuate their stay and even fight against the ideals 
of the freedom fighters” (Senior Research Fellow, 5). 
On the other hand, a professor of politics was of the view that colonial legacy has not only led 
to the politicisation of the appointment of senior bureaucrats but also the lackadaisical attitude 
of the Ghanaian in handling administrative duties. He posits that: 
All appointments were to promote Pax Britannica, which means peace of 
Britain, and these appointments were made to officials who could say ‘yes sir’ 
to the governor and their officials. “…the independent fighters realize that they 
have to frustrate the colonial government by sabotaging the administrative 
machinery of the state” (Associate Professor, 1). 
 
  
A director working in the public sector made an inference that the way the bureaucrats 
conducted themselves from the colonial era to date has not changed, at impendence, the country 
adopted the ways the colonial master run the public sector. The only difference was 
Ghanaian(s) appointing Ghanaians. 
“We inherited our language, ethics, hierarchy, etc. in running our public 
service, all from the ‘white man’ it is proper to assume that we inherited the 
politicisation as well, yes, I believe it’s so” (Director F&A, 12). 
Colonial legacy has its positives aspect, which in Ghana’s case has been developmental, but 
inferring from above, it has contributed greatly to the kind of politicisation that has 
characterised the appointment of the senior bureaucrats in the country. The above position is 
shared by scholars Aryee (2018) who stated that the public sector and its current form could be 
traced to the colonial bureaucracy which was made up of civil and local government services 
with a sole mandate of promoting “Pax Britannica” literally meaning “British Peace” and senior 
appointments were not only done by the governor but also it was the preserve of the British. 
 
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4.1.1.2 Game of Trust and Loyalty 
Trust is an integral part of politics; it is not surprising that most of the respondents attributed 
the level of trust and loyalty that politicians have both on the system and the personnel running 
the country’s administrative set-up. Thus, trust and loyalty in this context mean, the confidence 
that politicians have in both the human resource and the administrative machinery of the state. 
A senior lecture believes that in Ghana, the politician only believes in the bureaucracy as the 
administrative machinery of the state only when they are in government, the opposition does 
not trust the bureaucrats but when they are elected to power, they restructure the public sector.  
“Politicians when in opposition do not trust the bureaucracy as the 
administrative machinery of state, the reason being that they are not the ones 
who appointed the bureaucrats. But when in government that is when they 
realize that they can run the country with bureaucrats” (Senior Lecturer, 3). 
 
A deputy director with a public sector Organisation believes that the politician engages the 
services of a technocrat to help them draft their policies like the manifesto, just to check their 
level of loyalty. 
“During political party campaigning, politicians do a thorough background 
check on senior bureaucrats and other positions of influence, to know who is 
for them and who is not for them, as soon as they are elected to power, those 
they don’t trust to support their cause will surely go no matter their 
competence” (Deputy Director F&A, 16). 
 
A member of a CSO in stressing how trust and loyalty matter to the politician opine that: 
If the politician doesn’t trust you, they do not even appreciate your contributions 
as a CSO or Think tank who is apolitical, they always consider you as an enemy 
of their regime and would not want to implement the policy you propose, your 
research is considered as biased. “You can imagine the poor administrator who 
works for the state. Just consider the way the Auditor-General was treated 
recently; has to proceed on what I call “by force leave” (Research Consultant, 
7). 
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Thus, to the above respondents, there is the politicisation of the appointment of heads of public 
institutions based on trust and loyalty. Politicians interfere because they do not trust the 
administrative machinery of the state when in opposition and based on their relationship with 
the technocrat. Trust and loyalty confirm the works of Sossin, in Matheson et al. (2007), who 
believe that the bureaucratic set up in any country is compromised by the ruling elite, but even 
went further to state that, putting the resources, policy direction, and technical competence that 
come with the execution of the mandate of a party in power into the hands of party loyalties or 
sympathizers of the government will make them succeed (Sossin, in Matheson et al., 2007). 
It also confirms the findings of Asamoah and Yeboah-Assiamah (2018) to them, there is 
politicisation in Ghana’s bureaucracy which has affected the selection of civil servants. The 
politician always appoints based on trust and loyalty. Loyalty to the politician goes beyond 
patriotism to the state but “praise-singing” and sycophancy which one demonstrates either by 
explicitly defending or chastising one political party in the news media. 
 
4.1.1.3 The desire to fulfil Social Contract 
Social Contract, the treaty amongst individuals or groups that brought organized society into 
being, towards securing mutual protection, welfare, and regulating the relations amongst 
members of society, has been identified as one of the reasons why there is huge politicisation 
of the country’s bureaucracy. Political parties by putting themselves up for the legitimacy to 
rule enter into a social contract with the people. Thus, much is expected of the politician by the 
populace. The political parties also want to fulfil this contract to renew their mandate.  
A political scientist was of the view that: 
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In Ghana, the four-year period of conducting the election is too short for the 
politician, who is hell-bent on renewing their mandate with the people to “joke 
with”. (Senior Lecturer, 3). 
 
Thus, the above participant believes that politicians will go to all lengths to fulfil their 
mandate to win the next election. 
He further asserted that: 
“…because the NPP government wanted to deliver on the FSHS policy, they 
would come out with a set of loyal bureaucrats who can help the government 
deliver on that promise to the education ministry” (Senior Lecturer, 3). 
 
A senior research Assistant with a think-tank believes that the politician would do anything to 
achieve results, including sacking or demoting personnel within the civil or public service, 
especially coming through a political campaign where the opponent has been labelled to be 
non-performing. 
He has this to say: 
“… in Ghana ride after the election, the politician is thinking about how best 
they can appease the electorates and so will do anything to succeed in that 
regard, they will change anything that comes their way” even appointments at 
the lower level within the public administrative machinery suffer how much 
more the head whose loyalty is questionable (Research Assistant, 9). 
 
The social contract as espoused by the early political thinkers is one of the reasons why there 
is the constant meddling of politicians in the hierarchy of the bureaucratic set up in the country. 
Respondents were of the firm belief that, the politician has the desire not only to fulfil the 
contract with the Ghanaian people but also will go at any length to fulfilling it, including 
breaking public sector rules in the process, bearing in mind the four-year periods of the next 
election. This finds space in Panainte-Culeac (2012) who is of the view that the political agenda 
should be supreme if one wants to succeed and so must not be left in the hands of technical 
career bureaucrats who may have their belief towards those policies. Success here may be 
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subjective. If it is for the long term then the above point contradicts the position given by Given 
Appiah and Abdulai (2017a) and Levy (2014) that the time to clutch on to power and the 
seeming threat of losing power and the four-year election period, does not serve as an incentive 
to equip in the futuristic policy of building the capacity of the bureaucratic institutions but are 
just quick-fixers.  
 
4.1.1.4 Party Support/Contribution, Patronage, and Clientelism 
In conducting this, research, various respondents seem to correlate the support an individual 
gives to a political party to patronage and clientelism. And they believe is one of the factors 
fueling the politicisation of the Ghanaian bureaucratic set-up. By political support or 
contribution most respondents believe, is the amount of resource and time committed to a 
political party’s activity towards bringing them to power. 
Research Analyst with a Think tank opines that: 
Politics in Ghana is based on one’s contribution to the party either in the form 
of human, material, or financial resources. If the party is elected to power, those 
who contributed are rewarded. These rewards come in the form of positions 
based on one’s contribution to the party or the winning candidate. (Research 
Analyst, 6). 
 
 This is as a result of the fact that there are no clear-cut laws for political party financing in the 
country, a position echoed by a senior lecture that raising money to campaign in the country is 
a daunting task that is done in secrecy. He asserts that: 
 
… the laws on political party financing are not being implemented to the latter, 
political parties go to individuals to solicit for support in return for a position 
in their administration. The process is not transparent so political parties take 
advantage and abuse the system… (Senior Lecturer, 2). 
 
 
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That is to say, politicians will even sack a performing administrative head of an institution 
because that position was sold long before they come to power in exchange for campaign cash. 
The above points to the fact that the Ghanaian public sector is plagued with politicisation, most 
especially at the administrative level of chief directors and chief executives. Party support and 
campaign resources are in line with the works of Sakyi, Agomor and Appiah (2015: 21): 
“…. that a lot of rich individuals fund more than one political party and mostly 
in varying amounts. While some interviewees considered funding by such rich 
individuals and businesses as a sign of commitment to their party, the majority, 
on the other hand, emphasized that they do it not for benevolence but purely as 
an investment in order to get some reward whenever their party won political 
power” (Sakyi et al., 2015:21). 
 
Closely related to the above is the respondent's continual use of the words patronage and 
clientelism. A simple meaning attached to their explanation is the reward party loyalists get 
after winning an election and the reward is in the form of public resources. It is worth 
mentioning that, patronage has its positives such as getting loyal and committed bureaucrats to 
work in harmony with the elected officials.     
However, a professor of politics was very emphatic and used the word patronage, as a means 
of fueling the politicisation in our body politics as a nation and for that matter, our bureaucratic 
set-up. He asserts that: 
When a candidate wins an election, he must reward his followers and they do 
that with the resources of the state, some of the rewards come in the form of 
appointments to boards of agencies or organisations within the public sector, 
they always push for their men to occupy the top echelons of the public sector, 
and they do it with impunity (Associate Professor, 1). 
 
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Another, contribution of a Senior research fellow has it that, patronage has been normalized in 
the country and that if a government does not reward its followers with positions within the 
public sector, then that government should be ready to lose the next election. 
The best reward to give to a supporter is a public position so that they may feel 
important to act and support the party the more. It is a common feature to see 
party loyalists agitating against the appointment of people whom they feel have 
not contributed to the party coming to power giving juicy positions (Senior 
Research Fellow, 5). 
 
The party agitates to coheres their leaders to doing appoints along party lines other than on 
merit. The data on patronage confirms that of Kopecký (2013). His findings suggest that Ghana 
is not immune from the politics of patronage and concluded that, both the NDC and the NPP 
who won elections since 1992, have all engage in acts of patronage in an equal measure, 
especially in the area of the appointment of senior bureaucrats. Comparing Ghana and South 
Africa, he concluded that motivation is higher for patronage in Ghana and that almost all 
departments, agencies, and ministries within the public sector witness appointments when there 
is a change of government with the Judiciary as the only least affected (Kopecký, 2013). 
 
Clientelism generally is the exchange of goods and services for political support based on a 
two-way relationship called Dynamic, or delivery of service by a politician called 
Contingency; Hierarchy relationship involves a politician in a higher and citizens in a lower 
position and if the is relationship continuous, it is termed Iteration (Hicken, 2020). 
Participants could very well relate to the explanation given by Hicken (2020). Most of the 
participants believe that there is a continuous and never-ending relationship between the 
politician and most of the bureaucrats, which has come about as a result of enticement from 
the politician for a favour into making a government in power unpopular and by so doing they 
promote the bureaucrats when they are voted to power. 
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Beyond the patronage nature of the system, there is also a huge syndicate of politicians offering 
positions in exchange for information or political support and loyalty from bureaucrats. A 
research fellow with a think tank believes that:  
 “Politicians reward their supporters with promotions to be in an acting 
position when they are in power and if they win a second term, they make them 
substantive CEOs or chief Directors. Out of power, they promise them, and in 
most cases, they deliver on their promise when they are elected to power 
(Senior Research Fellow /Programmes Director, 4). 
 
A professor of political science believes that the politician cannot just do everything by 
themselves and will always need the support of the technocrat, even in the drafting of their 
manifestos. 
One of the reasons for forming a political grouping is to win political power, 
winning elections demand a good strategy from the party. The party ends up 
engaging the services of people in academia, CSO as well as administrators 
and promises them positions as well as their support and loyalty. In the event 
of the party coming to power, these people are rewarded and in most cases with 
positions that are higher than their current positions or profession (Associate 
Professor, 1). 
 
Thus, the politician trades with the technocrat for their support to win the next election, but in 
return pay them with positions, thereby fueling Politicisation within the public service. With 
regards to Clientelism, it goes to support the findings of Gyimah-Boadi and Yakah (2012) in 
Appiah and Abdulai (2017a) which contends that there are constant clirntelisation and 
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politicisation of the bureaucratic set-up of the country which has almost always resulted in the 
ineffectiveness of the sector and that the appointment of senior bureaucrats on the bases of 
presidential fiat grounded on political affiliation other than merit has contributed to this 
ineffectiveness. 
 
4.1.2 The Driving Factors of Politicisation in Ghana’s Fourth Republic 
Ghana’s fourth republic has survived eight elections, and three turnovers making it the longest 
and most stable republic to date (Ahmed, 2019). This is attributable to the country’s record of 
good governance and respect for human rights, which are key pillars of democracy (Sithole, 
2012). 
However, the road has not been all rosery, one of the issues thwarting this stride is how political 
heads relate to those running the administrative machinery of the state. There is constant 
interference on the part of the politician to the extent that, the appointment, dismissal, 
promotion, and demotion of senior administrative officials have become a ‘yoyo’ in the hands 
of the politician. In an attempt to ascertain its severity, why this act is on the ascendency in the 
fourth republic and prevalent in political transition, various respondents cited the following: 
The winner-takes-All nature of the fourth republican constitution, creation of “jobs for the 
boys”, Campaign resources and loyalty, moneycracy associated with political campaigning, the 
acrimonious nature of political party campaigning, patronage and clientelism, and the 
involvement of bureaucrats into politics.   
 
4.1.2.1 Winner-Takes-All (WTA) 
The 1992 constitution of Ghana, even though can be described as a hybrid, fusing both the 
presidential and parliamentary system of governance can also be described as a WTA (Gyampo 
& Graham 2014). With all intent and purpose, the constitution does not state this feature 
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directly, but the quantum of power given to the executive president to operate has left scholars 
and many analysts with no choice but to describe it as such (Ijon, 2019). One of the indicative 
features of WTA in the 1992 constitution is the extensive power of appointment given to the 
executive president by the constitution (Gyampo & Graham, 2017). The president to a very 
large extent has used this power to the detriment of all forms of appointments including senior 
bureaucrats whose contracts are terminated with the least provocation.  
Most of the respondents who participated in this research are of the view that politicisation of 
the bureaucracy is a result of the unflinching power of the president to appoint and 
“disappoint”. 
A senior lecture has this to say:  
The 1992 constitution gives the president the power to make several 
appointments to public institutions, some in consultation with the council of 
state, boards of cooperation’s and in the case of senior bureaucrats, with the 
PSC. Directly or indirectly the president has a hand in all these appointments, 
in their desire to control the administrative machinery of the state, they appoint 
their cronies to head these public institutions. (Senior Lecturer, 2). 
 
The above point goes against the spirit of the age-old debate of politics-administrative 
dichotomy; thus, it leads to administrative interference. 
A research consultant with a CSO believes that the president's power under the constitution is 
so enormous that, they control PSC because the head of the commission is also appointed by 
the president. 
… the president is the most powerful individual in terms of appointment to both 
lower and upper positions in the country. The PSC regulates the appointment 
of senior bureaucrats in the country, presumably without interference from any 
individual, but the simple question is who appoints the head of the PSC, if it’s 
the president then your guess is as good as mine (Research Consultant, 7). 
 
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Again, a senior research fellow with a Think tank, in describing how enormous the appointing 
powers of the president is, asserts that the president can influence all appointments with 
impunity. 
The sitting president in Ghana, to borrow the words of Jean Bolden, in 
describing the powers of parliament “…can do anything except to turn a man 
into a woman…”, the president can do anything with regards to appointments 
and always finds a clause in the constitution to defend themselves, “a case in 
point is the auditor general being asked to proceed on leave”, for senior 
bureaucrats, as a chief director, it is a common feature in our current 
dispensation (Senior Research Fellow /Programmes Director, 4). 
 
Another director was of the view that the appointing powers of the president are so enormous 
that, no law in the country can curtail it and that the oversight or the approval powers of the 
PSC with regards to the appointment of senior bureaucrats is just a farce.  
Now the system of appointing senior bureaucrats, like chief directors is open, 
the president can present a name to the PSC for consideration and almost 
always they are approved, to me the PSC is just giving integrity to the process 
but in truth, they cannot reject the nominee of the president (Director F&A, 
18). 
 
From the above submission by the participants interviewed by this research, there is an 
overwhelming stand that, politicisation has become an integral part of the appointments of 
senior bureaucrats in the fourth republic and the WTA posture of the constitution has 
intensified it. The above position is grounded in literature, taking cognizance of the works of 
Gyampo and Graham (2017) and Oquaye (2013) and Prempeh (2003), while Gyampo and 
Graham believe that, the WTA has led to a practice of appointing chief directors by the 
president to head public services which neutralize and compromise efficiency within the PS, 
Oquaye, and Prempeh admonish that, it undermines the role of chief directors and other senior 
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officers in the administration of the PS and renders them gullible and manipulative in the hands 
of the executive. 
 
4.1.2.2 Jobs for the boys 
Jobs for the boys, in this context, is the dishing out of public positions for party faithfuls and 
apparatchiks who helped the government of the day during its political party campaigning 
(Gyampo, 2010). Running a successful political campaign in Ghana’s fourth republic is a 
daunting task and involves a strong support base, involving so many actors in the entire process. 
After an election, the winning party must reward its faithful and loyal supporters bearing in 
mind the short period for conducting elections in Ghana. Nisin (2016), opined that, in Ghana, 
the preparation of the next election starts after the president is sworn in. It is therefore important 
for the government to reward its loyal supporters with jobs from the PS. Many participants 
believe, this has contributed to the constant politicisation the country witnessed in the fourth 
republic especially the period after elections. 
A director with a public service organization didn’t mince words in his continuation to this 
study. He believes a change in government means a change in personnel within the public 
sector and an avenue for creating jobs for party loyalists. The executive even ends up 
duplicating the duties of heads of public institutions and to a very large extent brings in their 
men to run affairs. 
After the 7th of January when a president is sworn in, public administrators face 
a period of uncertainty, this is the period where the party rewards its loyalists 
after promising them jobs during campaigning. first, the senior bureaucrats are 
moved or sacked to make up for some vacant position for the politician to 
reward his people, then those lower administrators follow. In some cases, they 
create jobs even when there is none and these lead to duplication of duty and 
redundancy in the office (Deputy Director F&A, 12). 
 
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A senior research fellow who used the phrase “Jobs for the boys” share a similar view, but 
went further to alluded that, there are certain key positions that are the preserve of party 
loyalists, so that the politician can be able to get their policies through: 
He advanced his argument as: 
In Ghana’s fourth republic, the politician will always politicise the appointment 
of senior bureaucrats based on two reasons, one “to create jobs for his people” 
and second “to control the administrative machinery of the state”, they do this 
to get their policies through, but the latent effect is that they are rewarding party 
loyalist with public sector appointment (Senior Research Fellow, 5). 
 
 
A political professor believes that the politician comes into power against the backdrop of lofty 
promises to his supporters and loyalists. They must reward them with positions and jobs within 
their administrative set-up and to him, heads of institutions are replaced and they, in turn, will 
create the environment to appoint other supporters to occupy other lower positions.   
The entire party structure and the party loyalists who contribute to the success 
of the government is made up of, grass-roots, rank and file, caucuses and if you 
like vigilante group affiliated to the party… when a party is elected to power, 
all these blocks must be rewarded with jobs in the public sector and other 
informal sectors. Against the grand scheme of things, heads of public 
institutions are replaced with party loyalists to do the bidding of these blocks 
within the party (Associate Professor, 1). 
 
 
He again asserted that, in the event of any difficulty in replacing the heads, Special Assistance 
(SA) and or Consultants are attached to the various ministries to render the work of heads of 
public institutions ineffective. 
A new feature within the bureaucratic set-up is the appointment of SA and 
Consultants to ministers in the various ministries, who advise the minister on 
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policy direction and the workings of the ministries. A situation that has rendered 
the work of the technocrat ineffective (Associate Professor, 1). 
 
Jobs for the boys based on the above explanations given by the various respondents have 
become a feature of the modern political climate of the country and synonymous with 
patronage and clientelism. This has driven the politicisation of the appointment of senior 
bureaucrats in the country to a level unmatched in the period before the fourth republic. A 
revealing feature is that, after the appointment of the senior bureaucrats, the government uses 
them as means to appointing other lower positions and uses them as a tool to driving their 
policies. Also, the appointment of special assistance and consultants is a way of rendering the 
technocrat ineffective. The appointment of special assistance which respondents alluded to is 
shared by both 2017and 2018 CSAPR.  
“…the influx of Personal/Special Assistants of Political heads without them 
going through proper recruitment processes of the Civil Service did not help 
matters” (CSAPR, 2017:71) and  
“Intrusion of Special Advisors into main functions of the Civil Servants 
rendered the carrier Civil Servants feeling not adequate enough to do their 
work” (CSAPR 2018:59). 
 
With regards to the Creation of Jobs for the boys, it buttressed the findings of both Appiah and 
Abdulai (2017a) on clientelism and Kopecký (2012) on Patronage as earlier discussed.  
 
4.1.2.3 Campaign Resources and Moneycracy   
Democracy is expensive, this is a common phrase being echoed around when the politician 
wants to justify their position on profligate spending. However, the reality of the phrase 
“democracy is expensive” is felt when one avails themselves to contest for a political position 
in Ghana. It demands a lot of energy, the endurance of internal context, and a strong financial 
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base. A weak party financing law has made politicians aspiring to occupy the higher position 
of the land resort to a group of business moguls, who are faceless to finance their campaigning 
for rewards when they come to power. There is also another twist, to getting one elected in the 
country in the fourth republic, “Moneycracy” loosely defined as the use of money to get one 
elected. This has been a constant feature of Ghana’s fourth republican elections either in local, 
intraparty, or general elections. 
Campaign resources and Moneycracy, also affect appointments in Ghana’s fourth republic. 
Most of the participants have the ensuing explanations. 
A lecturer with a public university in Ghana believed that, in Ghana, before one is elected, they 
are indebted in one way or the other to, individuals, friends, and many business owners in the 
country because they are the people who finance their campaign.  
In Ghana, the process of political campaigning is a treacherous one and 
involves a lot of money, there is no proper law guiding the conduct of campaign 
financing. Individuals and political parties use their own money or resort to 
friends and other associates, in return they are rewarded with positions in their 
government or awarded hefty contracts. In this republic, senior bureaucrats’ 
positions suffer politicisation because the politician will just reward a party 
financer with such a position (Senior Lecturer, 3). 
 
Again, a programmes manager with a CSO was of the view that party or campaign financing 
out to be given attention by scholars, because to him it even breeds corruption and mistrust in 
the political process and strongly affects all forms of appointment in the country including, the 
appointment of senior administrators. 
…no one individual is ready to finance their campaign just to serve their people 
as politicians always claim. They have their financers whom they promise 
position within the public sector… the whole process tends to breed corruption, 
and these officials may never be prosecuted under the watch of the government 
in power (Programmes Manager, 8). 
 
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Moneyocracy in Ghana’s political space has also contributed significantly to the growing 
politicisation of the county’s bureaucracy. Individuals seeking to serve, buy themselves into 
positions of influence and appointment. Since 1992 there has been an incidence of politicians 
influencing the outcome of an election with money. Participants strongly believe that these 
politicians when elected will ultimately try to recoup what they invested in their campaigning. 
A research assistant with a CSO, aptly believes that one of the means to recoup campaign funds 
is to control the public sector and once the appointing authority gets their people in the top 
echelons of the country’s bureaucracy, their mission is almost complete.  
People seeking to serve us, the citizenry pump a lot of money in their 
campaigning trying to buy our conscience and once they succeed, it’s payback 
time for them, they appoint their people in the higher positions of the public 
administrative set-up, just to control and have their way... this is not good for 
democracy but they do it anyway and get away with it (Research Assistant, 9). 
 
 
Again, a senior lecturer in a public university buttressed the above point and even question our 
political party leaders for paying a tight-lipped on a phenomenon that has been reported in the 
media circles for about two decades. He asserts that: 
In Ghana the laws are weak on political party campaigning, we hear of 
“moneycracy” anytime there is a political party primary. In the general 
elections, there has been an incidence of voters being given broom, salt, etc. all 
these have been reported by the media, we know it and we don’t talk about it. 
(Senior Lecturer, 2). 
 
The effects of his claims are that elected officials will try to control everything in the country 
including public appointments so that they will get hold of the administrative machinery of the 
state to recoup their money.  
 
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Campaign financing and moneycracy have been one of the reasons why there is a politicisation 
of the appointments to the top echelons of the Ghanaian bureaucratic set-up. While many 
blames it on weaker laws others are of the view that it serves as a reward mechanism for party 
financers and some believe it breeds corruption but in, all it leads to the politicisation of the 
top hierarchy of the public sector in Ghana. With Campaign financing the findings of Sakyi et 
al. (2015) as stated above holds, however issues of moneycracy have been confided to 
newspaper reports and the work of Bentil and Adu (2019) whose findings discovered that 
monetization of political struggle has adverse implications for a competitive political contest, 
leading to disqualification of citizens with capable minds from contesting in a multi-party 
democracy, other than appointments. 
 
4.1.2.4 Politics of Acrimony 
Politics in the country has been very acrimonious in the fourth republic, a position shared by 
many scholars. Politics of insult, name-calling, and hostile environment created during 
electoral transition does not only put off some “decent people” from politics but also has 
created a regime of witch-hunting in the top echelons of the administrative machinery of the 
state. Many of the respondents interviewed in this research are of the firm belief that the 
country’s political parties have been very hostile during campaigns, all to win power at all 
costs. After the election, the politician settles the scores with major shakeups in most public 
institutions and the first casualties are the senior bureaucrats heading the public institutions. 
A participant within a public sector organization believes that there is a whole lot of mistrust, 
name-calling, accusations, and counter-accusations in our political landscape which has given 
cause for an appointing authority to interfere in the makeup of the bureaucratic set-up in the 
country.  
She postulates that: 
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“…during political campaigning, the environment is very hostile, with 
documents being leaked around, political opponents resort to name-calling and 
insults leading to a serious trust issue within the public sector. After elections 
heads of public institutions are punished for what they did or did not do in 
defending the government” (Director of Human Resource, 15). 
  
These heads by extension are sacked if they find themselves in the bad books of the losing 
party and vice versa. 
Again, the desire to punish one’s opponent after an acrimonious campaign has been the goal 
for the politician, a move to appease their supporters and reward loyalists, in this context within 
the public sector. This is echoed by a deputy director with a public sector organization, he 
asserts that, 
The is always a desire on the part of the politician to punish their opponent after 
elections to please their supports and be seen to be working… In all this those 
running the administrative machinery of state are not spared, especially if the 
bureaucrat is labelled to be a sympathizer of the opposing party (Deputy 
Director F&A, 16). 
 
A fellow with a Think tank believed that the antagonistic nature of politics in the country has 
led to a crisis during electoral transitions. To him, major transitions in the country have 
witnessed a wanton display of arrogance and power from the major political parties, which 
resulted in the sacking of some high-profile members of some public cooperation and the 
seizure of cars and properties belonging to the losing party, which has further deepened the 
cracks of politicisation in the country. 
“Transitions in this country have not been properly handled, and I dare say that 
not even the introduction of the Presidential Transition Act, 2012, Act 845 has 
tamed politicians to treat each other in a decorous manner.  Seizure of 
properties of political opponents purporting to belong to the state and sacking 
of public bureaucrats deem to be aligned to the losing party has further 
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amplified politicisation in the country’s bureaucratic sphere” (Senior 
Research Fellow, 5). 
 
 
 From the above positions espoused by various respondents, most of the respondents are of the 
view that politics and transitions in the fourth republic have been clouded with acrimony. And 
the two major political parties are guilty of the growing canker. While others blame it on the 
way transitions have been handled in the country, others believe that it is done to appease party 
loyalists. The acrimonious debate has been espoused by scholars and other publications like 
Joyce (2015) and Ninsin (2016) confirms that of responses above. They admonished those 
transitions have been acrimonious, divisive, and damaging to the country’s emerging 
democracy leading to several senior bureaucrats losing their positions. 
 
4.1.2.5 The Administrative Politician  
Throughout the discussion on trying to find reasons why there is a politicisation of the 
Ghanaian bureaucratic set-up with special attention on the top echelons of the bureaucratic 
ladder, most of the arguments tend to be skewed towards the politician and his desire to achieve 
at all costs. Participants, however, have some rather staggering revelations of the administrator 
dubbed the “the administrative politician”. 
One of the reasons why Woodrow Wilson and his click of thinkers popularize the theory of 
politics-administration dichotomy was to allow the administrator to work without any kind of 
interference from the politician (Tahmasebi & Musavi, 2011). On the contrary several 
respondents in one way or the other laid some of the blame for politicisation within the fourth 
republic at the doors of the administrator. 
A research fellow and a programmes officer with a Think tank in the country believe that the 
bureaucrat cannot be left out when looking for reasons why there is constant politicisation in 
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the top hierarchy of the bureaucracy. He stated the desire for the bureaucrat to head an 
institution and enjoy the entitlements and benefits that come with it:   
…within the public service, the top positions come with a lot of benefits and 
entitlements that officers at the lower levels don’t get to enjoy. This desire for 
quick promotion has created an atmosphere where the bureaucrat always 
succumbs to the whims of the politician. They sometimes go to the extent of 
advising a political party on a strategy to approach policy for political 
expediency other than the national interest. If their preferred party gets elected, 
they are rewarded with promotions to the top echelons of administration 
(Senior Research Fellow /Programmes Director, 4). 
 
   
 A senior lecture was of the view that every individual is a political animal and believe that, 
most public bureaucrats within the fourth republic have either resign to contest a political 
position or been appointed by a political party. That those decisions are believed to have been 
nurtured over a period, which had consequences in the way they carried themselves as 
administrators. 
 
…since the inception of the fourth republic, data has shown that bureaucrats 
venturing into politics has been on the ascendancy… One cannot blame them 
because “man is a political animal” as espoused by Aristotle, but the decision 
to be in politics might have been taken a long time and may have affected the 
administrator’s views on policy in the past. For the bureaucrats to be given a 
political appointment, they might have exhibited an inclination towards 
appointing authority. In sum, bureaucrats are also becoming political and this 
has contributed greatly to the politics of the appointment of senior bureaucrats. 
(Senior Lecturer, 3).  
 
A deputy director working within the PS in Ghana opines that technocrat are politicians in 
disguise, they are effective when their preferred candidates are in power. And will always try 
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to help a government succeed, they will write the best of speeches for the politician, in the same 
vein they mislead an opposing party just to make them unpopular.  
As technocrats, we vote so we have our preferred candidates and party, but 
others put up their best when their party is in power, which is bad. They go to 
extent of making a government policy unpopular and write misleading speeches 
for political heads to deliver with the sole aim of sabotaging the government of 
the day for their preferred party (Deputy Director of Research, 13). 
   
Another public sector director also believes that to get a contract within the service after your 
retirement, means you must be in bed with the politician. Again, others have political ambition 
after retirement, so they always will position themselves in an advantageous position and 
nurture that ambition because one cannot nurture a political ambition at age sixty. 
…. As a bureaucrat, you retire at age sixty and if you are lucky, you get a 
contract for two or so years depending on the sector. The surest way to get a 
contract extension is when the government finds you “relevant” to their course. 
Again, after sixty only a few experience bureaucrats will go into private 
businesses as consultants to succeed, so most people take up politics as a new 
challenge which they must have conceived a long time ago (Director F&A, 18). 
 
 
Lastly, a director with a public institution believes that the politician will always try to have 
their way and for the bureaucrats to protect their work, they act in conformity to the dictates of 
the politician. Thus, bureaucrats are political because the politician made them so.     
To me, bureaucrats are political only to the extent of protecting their jobs…the 
politician will always want to have their way, and if a bureaucrat tries standing 
their way, your hard earn reputation and work will go down the drain, the safer 
way is to be political and defend government policies and save your job. As soon 
as you are sacked, the laws, media, or CSO cannot save you. “The recent case 
involving the Auditor General tells it all” (Director F&A, 14). 
 
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The above extensive discussion reveals that the politicisation of the position of senior 
bureaucrats in the country is a double edge saw. Some participants blaming the conduct of 
some senior bureaucrats as a contributory factor. The above disposition is also not very much 
grounded in literature, and can best be described as perceptions. One can only make an 
implication that, if an officer is appointed in an acting capacity, then they will most likely be 
in favour of the ruling elite. 
 
4.2 Implications of Politicisation of the Appointment of Senior Bureaucrats 
The interference of politicians in the workings of the Ghanaian bureaucratic set up as discussed 
earlier has been on the ascendency in the fourth republic. The appointment of senior 
bureaucrats which is the focus of this study has had implications on the overall development 
and political agenda of the state. Respondents’ views on the effect of politicisation of the 
appointment of senior bureaucrats in Ghana’s fourth republic were thematized as follows: the 
effects on the mandate of a public institution, public sector reforms, developmental outcomes, 
and finally on Ghana’s emerging democracy. 
 
4.2.1 Politicisation of Appointment and Mandate  
Mandate, as defined by dictionary.com, is the “official order or commission to do something”. 
Thus, in this context, it is an official order, that gave birth to a sector within the public or civil 
services of Ghana. Participants in making their contribution were to a large extent divided but 
believe politicisation of senior bureaucrats affects the execution of the mandate of the various 
administrative sectors of the bureaucracy.    
Some believe that the mandate until revised or change, through an Act of Parliament, cannot 
be altered with the transfer or sacking of the administrative head. However, the execution of 
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the mandate of some PS institutions by some bureaucratic heads makes one wonder if they are 
truly on course to delivering on the mandate as enshrined in the establishing Act of an 
institution. 
A director with a public institution has this to contribute; 
The mandate of an institution does not change and cannot be changed 
overnight, it must go through some changes in the law that gave the institution 
its mandate. So, at first, glance whoever is appointed to lead must not go 
contrary to the mandate. What happens is that these politically motivated heads 
do have a leadership style that does not effectively promote the mandate of the 
institution but towards a policy to heling their appointing authority gain 
popularity (Director F&A, 17). 
 
Again, an assistant director and head of reforms postulated that even though the mandate of the 
institution cannot be altered by an administrator, they are unlawfully reshaped by the policies 
of the government in power, and having their man at the helm of affairs hastens the process. 
All public sector institutions have their mandate as we have here, these 
mandates are what even define us and make us unique from other public sector 
organizations. The political head can direct a particular policy to an institution 
that does not go in line with the mandate of that public institution. This mostly 
happens when the head is appointed by the executive to champion that policy 
(Assistant Director/Head of Reforms, 11). 
  
A research consultant with a Think tank share a similar view: 
Ordinarily, the defining features of public cooperation cannot be changed by 
the personnel manning or overseeing its execution, but leadership style counts 
a lot in public administration. A politically motivated appointment to head an 
organization can disrupt the public organization in question of its mandate. And 
in Ghana, only a few heads of public institutions can stand the pressures of the 
executive (Research Consultant, 7). 
 
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Some of the participants believed that the politician does not care about the mandate, if that 
mandate does not push their policies, to them of it’s no effect. Thus, politicisation affects the 
mandate if it is not in tune with the policy direction of the government of the day. 
A research fellow with a Think tank has this to say: 
… one of the reasons why the politician will appoint their people to head a 
particular bureaucratic institution is to push their policies. As a result, the 
mandate of the said institution is affected if the policy does not go in line with 
the mandate. The politician will still go ahead and use that institution because 
they have their men at the helm of affairs. To my understanding, the politician 
in Ghana is not a respecter of the mandate of most public institutions (Senior 
Research Fellow, 5). 
   
A senior lecturer buttressed, the above points by stating that, the politician will not respect the 
mandate of an organization if they do not go to promote their political fortunes. 
…. government trusts the laws governing public institutions only when it 
promotes their political fortunes. They believe universities are independent and 
can come out with policies that promote teaching, research and learning, but 
the politician will kick against any initiative that has implications on their 
political fortunes. Imagine being in a public institution where the government 
can appoint a chief director based on political fiat. The mandate of the said 
institution will defiantly suffer (Senior Lecturer, 3). 
 
The consequences of this interference on the mandate of the organization are felt through the 
following:  
A senior research fellow with a Think tank believes that it rubs the populate of the services to 
be enjoyed by a public sector: 
“The overall effect is that a public institution is unable to deliver to the good 
people very well. If the mandate of say Ghana water is to provide clean water 
to the people of Ghana and the sector is politicised and they lose focus they will 
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end up not being effective on providing water for all, but rather water for some” 
(Senior Research Fellow /Programmes Director, 4). 
 
A deputy director with a PS institution believes that, once the mandate is compromised, public 
sector workers are made redundant. 
“Mr. researcher, once our mandate is tempered upon, we are made redundant 
for a period until we adjust to the new normal” (Deputy Director F&A, 10). 
 
A senior lecture believes it leads to the state cooperation losing its identity which can promote 
inefficiency. 
“I will say the cascading effect of politicisation is the loss of the identity of the 
public institution, these have led to inefficiency on the part of bureaucrats 
through no fault of theirs” (Senior Lecturer, 3). 
 
The above explanations by the various participants point to the fact that politicisation in the top 
echelons of the Ghanaian bureaucracy has negative effects on the mandate of a public sector. 
However, there is no work to the best of my knowledge that looks at the effects of politicisation 
of a Public Sector on its mandate. 
 
4.2.2 Politicisation on Public Sector Reforms (PSR) 
Ghana like most African countries has undertaken many reforms in the public sector. Many of 
these reforms are geared towards a transformation of the public sector into becoming more 
productive, efficient, and delivering world-class service towards ensuring sustainable 
development (Essuman-Mensah, 2019). Even though some of the results and outcomes have 
been modest and unsatisfactory, one of the issues that these reforms aim to address is the issue 
of politicisation of the public bureaucratic set-up (Essuman-Mensah, 2019). Having concluded 
that there is politicisation in the appointment of the heads of public institutions, various 
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respondents gave their account of this creeping phenomenon on the execution of Public Sector 
Reforms (PSR) in the country.  
A lecturer with a public university believes that the politicisation of the public sector has a 
serious consequence on the success or failure of a PSR. He stated that: 
…the success or failures of a PSR hinges on the desires and commitment of the 
administrator in charge of a said reform. Interference in the bureaucratic 
structure of a sector championing a reform is likely to suffer delay for its 
implementation. It sometimes leads to total failure if the new person at the helm 
of affairs is not committed to delivering on the said PSR. If the said reform is 
not having the full support of the appointing authority of the administrator, then 
it suffers a setback. On the other hand, if both the appointing authority and the 
administrator are for the reform it tends to succeed (Associate Professor, 1). 
 
Thus, if a government supports a PSR, politicizing the appointment of the head of an 
implementing agency does not affect the reform. Likewise, if they do not support the reform 
politicisation of the implementing agency leads to a setback. 
Again, a senior research fellow with a CSO share in the above submission but went further to 
state that, politicians claim credit for every good policy or initiative, if they are the ones who 
solicit funds for such a reform, they go all out to support it, but if it was started by their 
opponent, they do not want to lend their full support to such a reform hence politicisation of 
the top hierarchy of the bureaucracy leads to failure. 
He stated that: 
In Ghana, a politician wants to get credit for every single policy or project. If 
they are in support of a reform or if they start a reform in the public sector they 
put in their best. In that situation, it does not matter who is the bureaucratic 
head… but if it was started by their opponent, the politician doesn’t normally 
put in their best for it to succeed. In that case, a change or interference in the 
appointment of the senior administrator by the government leads to a failure of 
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such reform. Even though several factors have a serious effect on PSR, I 
strongly believe the politicisation of the implementing body is one of the reasons 
(Senior Research Fellow, 5). 
 
 
Some participants believe, politicisation in the contest of this research does not directly affect 
a reform, but rather it affects the implementation. They based their argument on the sources of 
funding for such reforms and the organization championing them. 
A consultant with a Think tank has this to say: 
Most of the reforms that are carried out in the country with regards to the public 
sector are mostly donner-funded. When a policy is funded by say International 
Monitory Fund (IMF) or World Bank (WB) it does not suffer when the senior 
bureaucrat is replaced by a politician. In the same vein, if the reform is funded 
with Government of Ghana (GoG) funds, then it suffers a setback when the senior 
bureaucrat is replaced or when the new government does not support the reform. 
But in most cases, an interference in the public sector motivated by politics affects 
the implementation component of PSR in the country (Research Consultant, 7). 
 
A director within the public sector shares the same position as stated above: 
… PSR is champion by international organizations and some donner agency or 
a bilateral agreement between Ghana and say the Danish Government. These 
reforms do not easily fold with a change of government or politicisation of the 
bureaucracy in the country, what normally happens is that its implementation 
is not very swift. Politicians know the consequences of interfering with such 
reforms (Director F&A, 12).  
 
But another director thinks otherwise, to her donner-funded PSR, is politicised in the country, 
so its implementation also suffers from either a change of headship in the administrative 
machinery of the state or a change in political leadership. 
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In this country policy or reform has a political twist to it. Either it is being 
supported by party A or B. so donner-funded reforms are also politicised at both 
the level of governance and administration. The leadership style and the strings 
being pulled by the politician affect mostly implementation especially if the 
administrative head is appointed by the politician to serve at their pleasure 
(Director F&A, 18). 
 
 
Lastly, a programme manager with a Think tank was of the firm opinion, the only thing that 
will make both administrators and bureaucratic heads surcharge the success of a PSR is when 
the funds are available for them to use.  
…for donner funded reforms, the funds are mostly available and the politician 
or the bureaucratic head will spend…. Other than that, the politicisation of the 
appointment of senior bureaucrats affects every aspect of administration 
including PSR (Programmes Manager, 8). 
 
 
The positions echoed above, by the various respondents is a testament that politicisation of the 
top hierarchy of the bureaucracy in Ghana affects reforms based on the organization funding 
the reform, the desire of political and administrative head to execute them. By way of 
implication, Essuman-Mensah (2019) is of the view that almost all reforms that Ghana embarks 
on having the component of depoliticizing the public sector from Government interference. 
 
4.2.3 Developmental Outcomes and Politicisation 
Every governance aims to provide development that will improve the well-being of the people. 
Thus, development is an integral part of nation-building. One of the best ways of ensuring 
quality development is when the political head grants the administrator the autonomy to 
operate.  
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Several respondents believe that the constant politicisation of the countries bureaucratic 
arrangement has serious effects on development. While others were of the firm belief that it 
does not promote continuity of development, other participants are also of the view it leads to 
the total neglect of development by the previous government since the country does not have a 
prototype national development agenda. 
A senior research fellow with a Think tank was very emphatic with his submission. To him, 
the country is not developing due to the constant politicisation of all aspects of public life 
including the politicisation of appointment. 
Within the fourth republic, the county has conducted most of its policies in 
developing the nation along political lines. The politician allocates resources 
based on electoral fortune and hence does not allow the administrator to come 
out with the best policy for addressing our development challenge. This is even 
worse when the administrator is appointed by the government of the day. They 
control the administrator to execute policies that are tailored along with their 
electoral fortunes other than policies that benefit the nation (Senior Research 
Fellow /Programmes Director, 4). 
 
A senior lecture with a public university believes that a politically motivated administrator 
lacks the autonomy to operate and this has affected the entire developmental outcomes in the 
country. And he strongly blames it on the politicisation of the appointment of the bureaucrat. 
The reason why some countries have a strong economy and are making exploits 
in their developmental agenda is that they have a strong public service devoid 
of government control and interference. In the best examples of the world, there 
is bureaucratic autonomy and the politician is guided by the unbiased advice of 
the technocrat. That is not the case in this country, the politician determines the 
policy direction in terms of development. It thus becomes worse if the 
bureaucrat was appointed by the politician (Senior Lecturer, 2). 
 
 
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A director within a public sector organization believes, that the administrator will always 
protect their jobs at the expense of development: 
She alluded that:  
…. the politics within the bureaucratic arrangement of this country, has a far-
reaching consequence than most people think. Administrators always work 
based on the demands of the executive just to protect their jobs. If the politician 
wants development even at a place where development is not needed, the 
administrator has no choice but to succumb to it. What is even more frightening 
is that, when a chief director is appointed by the government, developmental 
policies and direction is at the behest of the appointing authority (Director of 
Human Resource, 15). 
 
Another deputy director has this to say: 
. we work with the executive, but we are not to conform to whatever they ask us 
to do… they must take our advice because we have the statistics and the data to 
advise, but if the politician is not ready to listen to your advice you don’t have 
a choice but to go by it and protect your job. In some jurisdictions when you 
disagree with a policy you resign, but in Ghana, we protect our jobs (Deputy 
Director F&A, 16). 
The director’s assertion implies that the administrator will hasten things to please their 
appointing authority. 
 
In Ghana, there is no continuity in the developmental projects that are carried out in the country 
according to a participant with a Think tank. A situation he blames on the politicisation of the 
administrative structure of the state. 
He posits that: 
…. policy continuity is larked in this country. With developmental policies being 
the worse affected. the examples abound…  the politician in Ghana does not 
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want to continue with what their predecessors have started or initiated. To help 
them achieve this agenda they replace most of the admirative heads in senior 
management positions. These new “politically motivated” bureaucratic heads 
to a very large extent play along with the wishes of their appointing authority 
(Research Analyst, 6). 
 
Again, he stated that: 
…with all the hue and cry about the ills of a bailout and donner support, most 
developing countries still need them to develop. One of the conditions for getting 
these supports is less politicisation of the bureaucracy, so politicisation affects 
development (Research Analyst, 6). 
 
 
The above explanations given by the participants suggest that politicisation in the country has 
a huge impact on developmental outcomes. This stand is equally shared by Peters (2004) who 
believes that the politicisation of the public sector slows down the fluidity with which 
government policies and programmes flow and by extension, development is stalled. 
 
4.2.4 Implication on Ghana’s Democracy 
Ghana’s democracy, even though has been hailed as one of the best in Africa (Sithole, 2012), 
has some debilitating problems that scholars believe that it out to be looked at. One of the issues 
is the politicisation of the appointment of the heads of public institutions in the Ghanaian 
bureaucratic arrangement, a situation which Gyampo and Graham (2017) and Ijon (2019) 
believe is a result of the WTA posture of the constitution which gives the president an extensive 
power of appointment. Be as it may, the various respondents interviewed in conducting this 
research believe politicisation of the bureaucratic set-up has the potential of ruing the countries 
democracy.      
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A senior programme officer with a CSO in Accra believes that one of the basic tenets of 
democracy is the respect for rule of law. That interfering in the appointment of the chief director 
and other top-level appointments by the politician rubs the country with some basic tenants of 
democracy such as rule of law. 
He made his submission as: 
In Ghana when it comes to appointments, the appointing authority does not 
respect the laid down procedures, because they want to have control over those 
institutions. There is a total disregard for rule of law when they want to have 
their way, they interfere in the appointment of senior bureaucrats and this 
weakens the bureaucracy… the gushing effect is that the country’s democracy 
is also weakened because the laws of the country are not respected 
(Programmes Manager, 8). 
 
A professor of politics added his voice by asserting that, the politicisation of the administrative 
machinery of the state apart from having disregard for rule of law can breed dictators in the 
long run. 
…having disregard for rule of law as a leader has so many implications for 
Ghana’s democracy and the most worrying is that, it can breed dictators in the 
long run. The effects may be not visible now, but with all the extensive 
appointing powers if a government fills all appointments with their cronies 
without respect for the laid-down procedure, it will mean that one day the leader 
can be a constitutional dictator (Associate Professor, 1). 
 
   He again states that the politicisation of the appointment of senior bureaucrats does not 
inspire confidence in the public sector and foreign donners will not support the countries 
democratic process: 
…. when there is less politicisation of the bureaucratic set-up, it attracts donner 
support in terms of the county’s electoral process. Most of the election-related 
budgets in the country are donner funded. So, if the county’s institutions are 
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seen to act without interference from government, foreign donners will support 
in promoting the country’s democracy. (Associate Professor, 1). 
 
A director with a public sector organization is of the firm belief that politicisation has the effect 
of dumping the spirit of patriotism because it can lead to voter apathy during elections. 
She posits that: 
…when we politicised our bureaucracy, the populate may not have confidence 
in both the political system and the administrative machinery of the state.  The 
citizenry will not want to be a part of a system that favour only a few and so 
patriotism will be dampened and some citizens may not partake in the country’s 
electoral system (Director F&A, 17). 
 
The above points raised by various respondents is in line with Abotsi (2013) who was of the 
view that politicisation of the country’s bureaucracy does not promote good governance, while 
Ijon (2019) thinks it does not promote strict accountability, which is inimical to the country’s 
young democracy. 
In concluding the above objective, even though some scholars in their contribution to literature 
have sought to project the good side of bureaucratic politicisation, the above assertions say 
otherwise. And that, the mandate of a Public Sector Organisation (PSO), PSR, developmental 
outcomes, and Ghana’s democracy has suffered some negative impact partly due to politicizing 
the appointment of senior bureaucrats in the country.       
 
4.3 Policy Guidelines to Reducing Politicisation in the Public Sector  
This section analyzes the responses offered by respondents considered by this research on the 
various alternative cause of actions on cubing the politicisation of the appointment of senior 
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bureaucrats in Ghana.  The section is divided into three themes, namely, what can be done in 
terms of the policy, how it can be done, and what actions can bring about change. 
 
4.3.1 What can be done in terms of Policy?  
Interestingly, while some respondents believed there is a need for a new policy direction, 
Others are of the view that the current laws and regulations need to be strengthened. 
A professor with a public institution in the country is of the firm certainty that the powers of 
appointment given to the president are too much. He believes that appointments that the 
president does in consultation, approval, and/or with the advice of other bodies such as the 
Council of State (COS) and PSC, must be reviewed.  
He states that:  
The appointing powers of the president are so enormous under the 1992 
constitution, even though some of the appointments is being done in 
consultation or with the approval or advice of the council of state, parliament, 
PSC, etc., the appointment of chief directors and other senior bureaucrats under 
Article 195(1)  of the 1992 constitution, must be reviewed to give more powers 
and autonomy to the PSC… the PSC must be strengthened to avoid any 
government interference in their work (Associate Professor, 1). 
 
Again, this position was also shared by a research consultant with a CSO, he proposed that the 
appointment of public offers like chief directors must be based on merit devoid of political 
interference. He further states that the PSC must do so in consultation with the governing 
boards of such institutions and that the only way to doing that is to give the PSC the appointing 
powers and be backed by law. 
… appointment of Article 195(1) officers must be the duty of the PSC in 
consultation with the governing board of that agency of state…. There must be 
laws to back this. And the appointment should be on merit, the merit component 
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of the law must be clearly defined to avoid any ambiguity of interpretation 
(Research Consultant, 7). 
 
Others are of the view that the current laws as they stand are in good standing, however, the 
fact that the president appoints the head of the Civil and Public service is the only thing that 
ought to be looked at: 
A public sector staff (A deputy director) believes, the laws are okay but her worry is the 
appointment of the head of the civil and public service by the president, which means that PSC 
will just be appendages of the president’s nominee of a position.  
“To me, the current situation is not very bad… my problem has to do with the 
appointment of the head of civil service (CS) and PSC which is done by the 
president. The implication is that they cannot just reject the president’s nominee 
no matter how rigorous their interview and selection processes are…”  The 
PSC’s independence is doubt and their behaviour in approving the nomination 
of the president is just like “parliament approving the president’s nomination 
to ministerial appointments… they always go through”. There must be a law 
tying the president’s hands of appointing only amongst three most senior public 
servants within the PSC to head the service (Deputy Director of Research, 
13). 
 
Another angle to the alternative course of action has to do with, the various forms of redress 
for those who have been wrongly treated or suffered as a result of politicisation. Most of the 
participants even though could not fully explain the process of seeking redress within the public 
service believe the process is ambiguous and takes a lot of time to get justice. 
A deputy director believes that the process of seeking redress is just frustrating. 
Seeking redress for wrongful dismissal and for not being promoted to a senior 
position within the service is not very clear to most people and can be very 
frustrating… “In my humble opinion, the PSC code of conduct should make the 
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process very simple and less stressful, so that aggrieved PS personnel can take 
advantage of” (Deputy Director F&A, 10). 
  
Another PS director was of the view that the process of seeking redress is just a total waste of 
time and resources because it takes a longer time to get justice. 
The various means of seeking redress in the service is so complex and slow that, 
before one exhausts the entire process, they are nearing retirement, if you are 
lucky the various labour unions can take up your case, if not you have to endure 
a process which in most cases does not provide justice. A fried (Name and 
department withheld) who was due for promotion to the status of a director was 
never promoted, he fought his case through the Civil service adjudicating 
process, he was never promoted but went on retirement while the process was 
ongoing...  we need a law that can fast track the various forms for seeking 
redress in the service (Director F&A, 17). 
 
A research fellow and a Programme Officer with a Think tank share the same opinion as above, 
and even states that the politicisation within the public sector leaves the personnel involved 
with no choice, they are hardly reinstated and even if they are reinstated, there is an antagonism 
when they return. So, he also advocated for the strengthening of the laws to hasten the 
adjudicating process. 
“In all this, I believe that the laws governing the PSC should be strengthened 
devoid of any interference by the executive and if they interfere, the PSC should 
be able to address them. Again, solving the issues relating to politicisation on 
time will reduce the antagonism that reinstated officials confronts in office.” 
(Senior Research Fellow /Programmes Director, 4). 
   
The above positions point clearly to the fact that the laws as they stand, needs to be reviewed, 
the various positions shared by the individual participants may be subjective but in one way or 
the other it conforms to the recommendation of the appointment of senior public officials as 
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enshrined in Article 195(1), by the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), which proposed 
that: 
“All public officers who are appointed under Article 195(1) should be 
appointed by the President, acting in accordance with the advice of the 
governing councils or boards of their respective institutions in consultation with 
the Public Services Commission, except that persons who hold or act in offices 
in public institutions of higher education, research or professional training 
should continue to be appointed by the governing councils of those institutions 
exclusively” (CRS, 2011:283). 
 
4.3.2 How it can be done 
Participants made various contributions to how the politicisation syndrome can be addressed. 
Some of them were of the view that there should be a drastic reform both in terms of Law and 
empowering PS employees, while others think that a regular retreat for ministers and senior 
bureaucrats is the way to go. 
A lecture of politics at a public university believes that there should be a review with regards 
to the constitution and other codes of conduct towards ensuring bureaucratic autonomy and a 
PS devoid of any government interference. He proposes that a commission like the 
constitutional review commission should be the best way to start. 
He postulates that: 
…there should be a review of the president’s powers of appointment and code 
of conduct for public officers and empowering the public sector to be 
autonomous… something like the Constitutional Reviews Commission (CRC) is 
the way to go… “I believe this can help reduce politicisation of the appointment 
of heads of public institutions in the country…” (Senior Lecturer, 3). 
 
Again, a line director with a public service organization shared a similar view but stressed that 
sector ministers must respect the neutrality of the bureaucrat. 
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He posits that, 
As a bureaucrat, I am neutral based on my code of conduct, PSC can always 
punish me if I go contrary to the dictates of my profession, but sector ministers 
do not just get it, they will replace me based on hearsay… I believe when sector 
ministers respect the neutrality of the public servant, politicisation will reduce 
(Director of Human Resource, 15). 
 
A senior research fellow with a Think tank believes that a retreat must be organized for both 
ministers and senior bureaucrats to learn basic administrative procedures and the dos and don’ts 
on the part of both the senior bureaucrats and the misters. 
He made the following contribution: 
…one of the reasons why there is constant interference within our bureaucratic 
set up has to do with, “some ministers don’t know their basic roles” and as a 
result, they will try to interfere with the workings of the bureaucrat. I believe if 
a refresher course, a retreat, or joint orientation is organized for them at say 
Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), it will 
help them understand each other which can help reduce the incidence of 
politicisation (Senior Research Fellow, 5). 
 
Again, an assistant director with a public sector organization, is of the firm belief that labour 
organizations must help individuals in fighting for wrongful dismissal, they must not leave the 
individual to do it on their own because the process is just cumbersome. 
Labour organizations must stand-in for their own and defend any act of 
interference by the political head other than allowing the individual to always 
be fighting their wrongful dismissal by themselves. The power of the group 
alone will be a deterrent to politicians when interfering with the appointment of 
senior bureaucrats (Assistant Director/Head of Reforms, 11). 
 
Another director with a public sector organization aptly shares in the above submission and 
stresses the effectiveness of a group during a demonstration. 
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…yes, fighting a system controlled by politicians will always be a daunting one, 
but if a group like the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana 
(CLOSSAG) is fighting on behalf of their member(s), it will always yield results. 
When they even threaten a demonstration, the government of the day will act 
swiftly… this can help in reducing the incidence of politicisation in the public 
sector (Director F&A, 14). 
 
The above points as discussed by various respondents means that to curb the politicisation in 
the country, there should be a commission to review all the existing laws on the appointment 
of senior bureaucrats, promotion of autonomy, and a retreat for both the political and the 
administrative heads to learn something on administrative procedures and practices.  
 
4.3.3 Alternative Causes of Action That Can Bring Change 
The research by this theme seeks to know from the various respondents across Academia, PS, 
and CSOs, what cause of action will lead to a change in the politicisation of the appointment 
of senior bureaucrats in Ghana. 
One of the research assistants, with a Think tank, indicated that to bring change the bureaucrat 
must be efficient and effective to win the trust of the politician. 
…even though the politician will want to have their men around based on trust 
and loyalty, they also want to deliver on their promises, so they will work with 
a bureaucrat who is very efficient and effective. For me I think bureaucrats must 
be efficient and effective, this will win the trust of the politician towards their 
policy direction and it will reduce politicisation (Research Assistant, 9). 
 
 A political science lecturer, believes that the politician should stop meddling in the affairs of 
the bureaucrat, whether in government or out of government. They must stop using bureaucrats 
as spies leaking documents when in opposition just to defame their opponent.  
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To cause a drastic change, the politician must allow the bureaucrat to work 
without any interference. And, stop using them(bureaucrats) to leaking 
documents and making their opponents unpopular… bureaucrats must be 
allowed to be autonomous in the discharge of their duties (Senior Lecturer, 2). 
 
A director with a public sector also thinks that bureaucrats should stop being in bed with 
politicians for quick promotion. 
…most of the politicisation we see in Ghana’s bureaucracy is as a result of 
bureaucrats being contracted by the politician to serve their interest, they 
accept the offer in return with quick promotions which they don’t deserve. If 
bureaucrats can desist from this act, then the level of politicisation will reduce 
(Director F&A, 12). 
  
A programme officer with a CSO thinks that Ghana should go back to adopt the characteristics 
of the bureaucracy that the country had just after independence.  And bureaucrats must be 
empowered to play their roles diligently. 
He has this to say: 
…. Ghana had a very good and vibrant PS post-independence, that is why most 
Ghanaians work in the United Nations (UN) and other International 
Organizations (IO). The country was the envy of other African countries as they 
came in to learn from us, now our PS is in tatters and to restore it we must go 
back and adopt the post-independent PS where politicisation was very minimal 
(Programmes Manager, 8). 
 
Lastly, another research fellow with a Think tank in Accra, believes that there should be strict 
punishment of bureaucrats who abuse their office for a political party’s advantage or for being 
inefficient. 
…most bureaucrats are political and so hide behind the politician to abuse their 
office and the code of conduct for public service. Such bureaucrats must be 
punished in accordance with the governing laws of the office they occupy… this 
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will not only serve as a deterrent to others but will minimize politicisation in the 
country's bureaucratic set-up (Senior Research Fellow /Programmes 
Director, 4). 
 
Participants have given their take on the best possible cause of action, which ranges from 
empowering the bureaucrats to be more effective and autonomous, to a politician being advised 
to desist from using bureaucrats to making their opponents unpopular. Others are also of the 
view that bureaucrats should stop meddling in politics and lastly the laws must punish 
bureaucrats who abuse their office.   
 
4.4 Chapter Conclusion 
This Chapter provided the analysis and discussions of both primary data from the field and the 
secondary data on the politicisation of the appointment of senior bureaucrats in Ghana’s fourth 
republican era. The data collected was analyzed based on themes related to the questions and 
objectives of the research. It was evident from the respondents that politicisation of the 
appointment of senior bureaucrats has been around for a long time and the causal factors are 
colonial legacy, trust and loyalty, the fulfilment of a social contract, policy implementation and 
inefficiency, party support, clientelism and patronage, as the main driving factors of 
politicisation in Ghana. Again, the practice has intensified in the fourth republic due to the 
Winner-Takes-All nature of the fourth republican constitution, creation of “jobs for the boys”, 
Campaign resources and loyalty, moneycracy associated with political campaigning, the 
acrimonious nature of political party campaigning, patronage and clientelism, and the 
involvement of bureaucrats into politics. It was also realized that politicisation has indirectly 
affected the mandate of an organization, stifle development, affects public sector reforms and 
has the tendency of injuring Ghana’s fledgling democracy. Lastly, respondents offered some 
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policy guidelines to curb this phenomenon, with the strengthening of laws as the most 
recommended by participants.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
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CHAPTER FIVE 
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS 
5.0 Introduction 
The summary of findings, data collected, conclusion and recommendation of this research are 
presented in this chapter. The research sought to examine why the appointment of heads of 
public institutions is politicised and the long-term implications in Ghana’s fourth republic. The 
study was guided by the political settlement theory and the politics-administration-dichotomy 
theory. The study adopted an exploratory approach in qualitative research and used two sources 
of data, namely primary and secondary data. The primary data was obtained through face-to-
face interviews using semi-structured interview guides on respondents from the field of 
Academia, Think tanks/CSOs and the Public Service. The secondary data was obtained from 
books, news portals, journal articles and civil service annual reports. The findings are based on 
the objectives of the research derived from results obtained from the field. The 
recommendations provide an alternative cause of action to dealing with the issues of the 
politicisation of appoints of senior administrators in Ghana’s fourth republic, thereby 
promoting trust and confidence in the country’s fledgling democracy.   
 
5.1 Summary of Key Findings 
The interference of elected officials in the bureaucratic set-up of the state has been a never-
ending tussle in the field of Public Administration. Much has been written on the subject matter 
of the Politicisation of the appointment of bureaucrats by politicians, across the world. While 
some believe it is healthy for a smooth takeoff for an incoming government to deliver on their 
mandate, others believe it is detrimental to the workings and autonomy of administrators 
towards giving out their best for a nation’s development. 
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In Ghana there has not been much contestation amongst scholars as to whether there is 
politicisation in the administrative machinery of the state by the politicians, while some believe 
it is the WTA posture of the constitution, which gives the president so much power of 
appointment, others blame it on colonial legacy, the acrimonious nature of the Ghanaian 
political landscape and others are of the views that it is as a result of the clientelist and 
patronage system that characterise the body politics of the country. Admittedly copious 
literature pointed to an increase in the interference of politicians in the appointment, dismissal, 
or removal of senior public officials within the fourth republic which heightens during an 
electoral transition, with the ACSR 2017 and 2018 identify politicisation as a challenge to the 
service. The research sought to examine why the recruitment, promotion, and dismissal of 
heads of public institutions are politicised in electoral transitions and the long-term 
implications in Ghana’s fourth republic. Firstly, the study examined why appointment, 
promotion, and dismissal of heads of public institutions are politicized in Ghana’s fourth 
republic. Secondly, it examined the implications of politicisation on the appointment, 
promotion, and dismissal of heads of public institutions on developmental policies and reforms. 
The last objective was to outline policy guidelines to curb the politicisation of the appointment, 
promotion, and dismissal of heads of public institutions in electoral transitions.  
 
 
5.1.1 Why are the Appointment of Heads of Public Institutions Politicised in Ghana 
On this objective, the study found out that politicisation of the administrative machinery of the 
state has been widespread and very synonymous in Ghana since the colonial era. The data 
alluded that, colonial legacy, trust and loyalty, the fulfilment of a social contract, policy 
implementation and inefficiency, party support, clientelism and patronage, are the main driving 
factors of politicisation in Ghana. 
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Respondents were of the view that colonial legacy influenced the appointments of senior 
offices because the queen was the only one responsible for appointment through her governors, 
and the rebellion to self-government led to the attitude of people towards the PS as one to be 
neglected, hence the term “Aban Adwoma”. Again, it was found out that politicians want to 
work with people whom they trust and can be loyal to carry out their planned policy and 
programmes, thus if a public officer cannot be trusted they must go. The study also found out 
that inefficiency cannot be compromised by the elected official even though, the understanding 
of inefficiency is subjective to the politician. Respondents also believe that party support or 
contribution, clientelism and patronage, have been used by politicians to interfere in the 
appointments of senior bureaucrats in the country.   
 
Again, other drives with respect to the fourth republic were also considered. It was found out 
that, the Winner-Takes-All nature of the fourth republican constitution, creation of “jobs for 
the boys”, Campaign resources and loyalty, moneycracy associated with political campaigning, 
the acrimonious nature of political party campaigning, patronage and clientelism and the 
involvement of bureaucrats into politics as the reasons behind Politicisation in the fourth 
republic and most especially in election years. The politician just does it with impunity. 
It was found out that the excessive powers of the president to make almost all appointments in 
the public sector have been one of the motivating factors for politicisation in the fourth republic. 
Respondents also considered the amount of human or material contribution to political party 
campaigning, the use of money to buy voters’ conscience, the intense acrimonious nature of 
the political party campaigning and the involvement of bureaucrats in party campaign to getting 
favour for promotion are the reasons why there is constant politicisation in the fourth republic. 
With regards to how the politician interfere respondents believe that they do outright dismissal, 
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rendering of an official redundant, constructive dismissal transfer and the famous proceed on 
leave.  
 
5.1.2 Implications of Politicisation of the Appointment of Senior Bureaucrats 
With regards to the implication of politicization on appointments, the findings are summarized 
based on these four themes: the effects on the mandate of a public institution, public sector 
reforms, developmental outcomes and finally on Ghana’s emerging democracy. 
On the mandate of a public sector organization, the data suggest that the politicisation of the 
appointment of the headship in a public sector does not necessarily affect the mandate of that 
institution directly as it may need a change in the establishing Act to effect that change. But 
almost all respondents believe that the politician will indirectly skew the mandate to favour a 
policy that they want to roll out. Thus, the leadership style can affect the mandate to achieve a 
political end.  
On PSR, it was found out that, it affects reforms in terms of execution and funding plays a 
critical role in politicising a reform. Respondents believe that if it was initiated by an NDC 
government, NPP will not execute it when in government, unless funding is readily available. 
Again, if it is donner funded, the politicisation of the PS does not affect PSR but if it is funded 
by GoG, then it suffers. 
 
In terms of development, the data points that the politicisation of senior bureaucrats affects 
development because the technocrat’s opinion on development is not considered. Again, most 
of the respondents believe that those appointed are not competent enough to spearhead national 
development. 
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 With Regard to Ghana’s infant democracy, respondents believe it does not promote good 
governance, has a potency of breeding a constitutional dictator and an increasing political sub-
culture in the country’s body politics. 
 
5.1.3 Policy Guidelines to Reducing Politicisation in the Public Sector  
In line with this objective, an alternative cause of action was proposed by various respondents. 
Most of the participants believe that the appointing powers of the president must be reviewed, 
to give the PSC the power to manage all appointments without any interference. Some also 
believe that the PSC must be retooled to be more effective and accountable to the populates. 
Again, bureaucrats who engage in political activities must be punished severely by the PSC. 
Some advocated for the Labour Unions to fight for aggrieved works and not to leave the 
individual to go through the rigorous adjudicating process which normally comes to nothing. 
Lastly, some advice that the report of CRC (2011) on appointment must be considered.  
 
5.2 Contribution to Theory, Literature and Policy 
5.2.1 Theory 
The research used two theories, the political settlement theory and the politics-administration 
dichotomy to finding the reasons why there is constant politicisation of the top hierarchy of the 
bureaucracy in the fourth republic.    
With regards to political settlement theory, although the work is concentrated on the 
politicisation of senior bureaucrats, it brought to fore how within a settlement, the elite will go 
to all lengths to perpetuate their stay in power and the various mode of attaining those powers 
was given meaning by the research. Political settlement is “a combination of power and 
institutions that is mutually compatible and sustainable in terms of economic and political 
viability” (Khan 2010:4). And to achieve and sustain the powers within a settlement, the 
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governing class (elite) shape the outcomes and influence the worldview of others, through 
powers that emanate from overwhelming support for elections, affluence, and the ability to 
cause violence or wage war (Rao, 2010). Thus, the political elite has used all means including 
using the bureaucratic set-up to shape and maintain their power in the country by dishing 
appointments to loyalty other than hard work.    
With the Politics-Administration dichotomy theory, even though there is still a raging debate 
on whether politics should be separated from administration or not, this work adds up to the 
debate not by taking sides but by coming out with the realities of the modern administrative 
set-up to bear. The findings of the research are along argument put forward by Demir & Nyhan 
(2008) that separation of politics from the administration was to reduce the politics in the 
administrative process of a country’s bureaucracy by recommending technical competence, 
neutrality, and hierarchy. The reality is that there is politicisation in Ghana’s fourth and the 
findings proposed by this research is aimed at reducing it and making the bureaucracy an 
autonomous one.  
 
5.2.2 Literature 
The study made contributions to the concept of politicisation within the bureaucratic set-up of 
the country by the executive and its associated problems which have been studied in bits by 
various scholars. While Gyampo and Graham (2017) and Ijon (2019) talked about WTA in the 
Ghanaian political landscape, their findings with regard to politicisation are greatly supported 
by this research. Again, this confirms the works of (Appiah & Abdulai, 2017a), Ayee (2013) 
and Kopecký (2012). The clientelist assertion by Appiah and Abdulai (2017a) has been 
confirmed by this research while Aryee (2013) and Kopecký (2012) stands on patronage 
associated with appointments of senior bureaucrats has also been confirmed by this research. 
It further gives currency to the contributions of Anaman (2016), Nissin (2016 & 2006), 
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Gyampo et al. (2013), and Nkansah (2012) on the transfer of power in Ghana’s transition and 
its associated challenges in the fourth republic. Again, the revelations of this research confirm 
the trust and loyalty factors unraveled by Asamoah and Yeboah-Assiamah (2018). The data 
gathered can be used in future research on politicisation within the public sector. 
 
5.2.3 Policy 
The findings of the study will help in policymaking in Ghana and other developing countries 
that are challenged by constant politicisation within the PS to adopt policies that may be 
incremental and can assume a national character. With this research, development partners will 
better understand the Ghanaian administrative terrain so that they can propose the best possible 
policies to partner the country with. Again, there should be polices jeered at making the 
administrative machinery of the state an autonomous one.   
 
5.3 Conclusion  
Even though politics is ubiquitous, it must be guided by rules and regulations to shaping the 
conduct of political office holders vis-à-vis other institutions of the state. This research set out 
to find the extent and magnitude of the politicisation of heads of public institutions in Ghana’s 
fourth republic, how and why it happens, its effect on development and alternative actions to 
curb it. The findings of this research reveal that there is indeed politicisation in the Ghanaian 
Public Sector as captured in the 2017 and 2018 Annual report of the Civil service of Ghana and 
this is fueled by factors that even dates back to the precolonial era like colonial legacy, trust 
and loyalty, the fulfilment of a social contract, policy implementation and inefficiency, party 
support, clientelism and patronage, Cronyism, Nepotism, and Ethnicity. Secondly, the research 
looked at how and why there is constant politicisation of the top hierarchy of the public sector 
and the following revelations come up, Winner-Takes-All nature of the fourth republican 
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constitution, creation of “jobs for the boys”, Campaign resources and loyalty, moneycracy 
associated with political campaigning, the acrimonious nature of political party campaigning, 
patronage and clientelism and the involvement of bureaucrats into politics. Again, it was 
realized that the phenomenon of replacing heads of public institutions with a political motive, 
has a huge implication on the mandate of institutions within the public sector, not to alter the 
mandate all together but to change the focus of the operations of the sector. Also, public sector 
reforms suffer in terms of implementation and both political and economic development, as 
well as Ghana’s fledgling democracy, are all affected, due to total disregard for rule of law. 
The findings of the research also reveal some proposals to curbing the issue of intrusion in the 
public sector by elected officials. While some believe the current laws governing appointments 
in the PSC must be strengthened, others believe that the president’s powers of appointment 
ought to be controlled and some believe the PSC must be empowered to serve as a check on 
appointments and not to just approve any nomination by the president. Finally, the study makes 
recommendations in the form of meritocracy in the selection of public officials, the autonomy 
of the civil service, incremental policies must be adopted and a national development plan 
binding on all successive governments must be the way forward.  
 
5.4 Recommendation 
In line with the findings as discussed in this research, the following recommendations are made 
towards curbing the politicisation in the high echelons of the bureaucratic set-up in Ghana: 
• The research found out that appointments were being done based on presidential fiat 
and party basis, in line with this, this research recommends merit base recruitment into 
the public sector in Ghana. Long service and effective bureaucrats must be rewarded 
with the promotions that they deserve. This will not only boost the morale of the 
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bureaucrat but also the nation will benefit from the institutional memory they have 
acquired through long service. 
• The research also recommends that Ghana should adopt incremental policies. 
Incremental Polices ensures continuity by successive governments, this will reduce 
politicisation in the public service because the government must continue with the 
projects by his predecessor. Thus, it may be better to continue with a chief director who 
has started a project, than change them for the project or policy to fail. 
• It was also realized that the autonomy of the bureaucrat was not guaranteed and so most 
people work to protect their job other than working for the tenants of the service or the 
good of the country. When the autonomy is guaranteed, the technocrat will be able to 
work without any fear and can contribute genuinely to the country’s good. 
• Moneycracy must be punished both at the political party level and national level, this 
will reduce the amount of investment being made in political party campaigning for a 
candidate to be indebted to so many faceless financers that, they must reward them with 
administrative positions. 
• Again, the research recommends a national long-term development plan which is 
binding on all successive governments as recommended by the constitutional review 
commission. This to a very large extent will reduce politicisation because when a 
blueprint is being followed expert knowledge is paramount other than loyalty to a 
political party. 
• Lastly, the bureaucrat must desist from venturing into the arena of politics and 
concentrate on their profession while still in the service. They must not meddle or fall 
for the tricks of the politician into compromising on their office for a political party’s 
gain. The PSC must punish all bureaucrats found to be involved in any act of party 
politics.   
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APPENDIX 
 
ELECTORAL TRANSITIONS AND THE POLITICISATION OF THE 
APPOINTMENT OF SENIOR BUREAUCRATS IN GHANA’S FOURTH REPUBLIC 
___________________________________________________________________________ 
INTERVIEW GUIDE 
Introduction 
This interview guide seeks your honest opinion on the Politicisation of the appointment of 
senior bureaucrats in the electoral transition in Ghana’s fourth republic. This study is an 
academic exercise that serves as a partial requirement for an MPhil in Public Administration. 
Please note that the information gathered is kept confidential and would be used for only 
academic purposes. 
Thank you! 
Demography of Respondents 
1. Gender……………………………………. 
2. Educational level…………………………. 
3. Number of Years in Organisation………… 
4. Sector……………………………………… 
5. Position……………………………………. 
Research Questions 
What is the extent and magnitude to which the recruitment, promotion, and dismissal of 
heads of public institutions are politicised in Ghana’s fourth republic? 
(Several literary works seem to suggest that, the appointment of senior bureaucrats is 
politicised) 
1. What do you think accounts for it? 
2. When did that start? 
3. What motivates this practice? 
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4. Is it becoming more intense in Ghana’s fourth republic? 
 
How and why are the recruitment, promotion, and dismissal of heads of public 
institutions politicised in Ghana’s fourth republic? 
Several scholarly articles, newspaper, and online portals in Ghana seem to suggest that heads 
of public institutions are asked to proceed on leave, demoted to a less glamorous office, or 
resign in electoral transitions: 
1. Why is the appointment of senior bureaucrats politicised in electoral transition? 
2. Who do you blame? (Politicians or Bureaucrats) 
3. How is the appointment of senior bureaucrats politicised? 
 
What are the implications in the Politicisation of recruitment, promotion, and dismissal 
of heads of public institutions on developmental policies and reforms? 
There is documentary evidence that bureaucracy in the country is on the decline in efficiency 
and effectiveness since the inception of the fourth republic  
1. What is your assessment of this phenomenon on the mandate of a public institution? 
2. What is your assessment of this phenomenon on reforms?  
3. How does it affect development outcomes?   
What appropriate policy guidelines will help curb the Politicisation, recruitment, 
promotion, and dismissal of heads of public institutions in electoral transitions? 
1. What can be done in terms of policy or to curb this phenomenon? 
2. How can it be done? 
3. What particular action will be responsible for bringing change? 
 
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME 
 
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