Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has denied allegations that President John Mahama is dismissing employees appointed under the previous administration.
According to him, the claims are deliberate distortions and propaganda.
In an interview on an Accra based television station on Friday, February 28th he said, “President Mahama is not sacking everybody employed under the last administration. That is not what is happening. If you were employed before the transition, you are fine”.
Using his own ministry as an example, Ablakwa stated that after reviewing employment records, he confirmed that the Finance Ministry had granted financial clearance as early as July, with budget allocations made for hiring additional staff that year.
He noted that while some employees received their appointment letters in November and December, the recruitment process had begun much earlier.
“At the Foreign Ministry, I have explained to the President that what we have seen is that the process started much earlier, so not a single person at the Foreign Ministry is being dismissed,” he said.
He disclosed that other ministries had conducted similar reviews and confirmed that employees hired through due process were not being dismissed.
However, he stressed that the real issue was the “malicious recruitments” made after the elections, which any government would have grounds to challenge.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs advised future administrations to conduct recruitment in a timely manner, rather than postponing it until after an election loss, which places a financial strain on the incoming government.
“I think that what we can learn from this is that when we are in power and there is space and we know we can employ people, let us employ them and let’s not wait and keep them unemployed until you loose an election and you want to create fiscal burden for your opponent,” he added.
