The Member of Parliament for Ketu North, Hon. Edem Agbana has strongly criticized the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for making hasty appointments after losing the December 7, 2024, elections, describing it as a desperate attempt to burden the new government.
Speaking on the controversial wave of dismissals following the change of government, Hon. Agbana questioned the sincerity of the NPP’s claims that they genuinely cared about the people now being let go.
“If they indeed genuinely care about those so-called employees that are being sacked now, why didn’t they employ them within their eight years in power? Why did they wait until they lost miserably before appointing people and issuing appointment letters after December 7?” he asked.
The Ketu North MP accused the previous government of economic mismanagement, pointing to an over-bloated payroll that included numerous ghost names.
“You mismanaged the economy, with even an over-bloated payroll filled with many ghost names—over 80 ghost names at the National Service Authority alone. Then, after being voted out, instead of exiting gracefully, you engaged in the business of recruiting your party foot soldiers to increase the numbers on the payroll. And now, you expect the new government to inherit that?” he stated.
Hon. Agbana also took a swipe at some members of the NPP, including Hon. Asafuah and others, who he claims are pretending to fight for the dismissed employees.
“I keep telling the young people in the NPP that your so-called leaders, the likes of Hon. Asafuah and co, who are claiming that they are fighting for you, belong to a group of greedy people,” he declared.
Hon. Agbana assured Ghanaians, particularly young people who were genuinely employed through the right channels, that President Mahama’s administration would prioritize job creation.
“We want the good people of Ghana, especially the young people who genuinely got employed after December 7, to know that President Mahama will create jobs. We will use the appropriate channels to employ people. Put in your application, and if you are qualified, you will go through all the processes and get employed to serve the good people of Ghana,” he emphasized.
He clarified that the dismissals are not targeting individuals employed as far back as 2022 but rather those who were hurriedly hired between December 7, 2024, and January 7, 2025, after the NPP had already lost power.
“We are not dismissing people who were employed in 2022. We are dismissing people who were hurriedly brought into the system after the NPP lost the election. Where is the goodwill in that? What was the intention of the government? After losing power, and without even knowing the philosophy of the new incoming government concerning payroll management, they still went ahead to employ people after December 7 and hastily issued appointment letters,” he stated.
Hon. Agbana cited a specific institution where staffing numbers ballooned significantly within a month within the scale of the last-minute appointments, .
“Let me give you one example. There is a particular institution—I don’t know if I have the permission of the CEO to mention—but before December 7, the staff strength was 265. However, between December 7 and January 7, it increased to 454. Look at the numbers! When you knew that you were a political appointee exiting office after losing an election, you suddenly decided to employ people?” he revealed.
The Member of Parliament for Ketu North, Hon. Edem Agbana also called out the NPP for their sudden silence on economic performance, contrasting their pre-election claims with the reality of the situation they left behind.
“We meet them in Parliament, and when we show them the true state of the economy they left behind, they themselves are embarrassed. Today, why are they not talking about the so-called indicators they were boasting about before December 7, 2024?” he asked.
Story by Freedom Lavoe.
