The Office of the President has no legal rights to arbitrarily revoke the appointments of Public Servants who were duly recruited in line with established legal and administrative procedures and claim the justification of revocation is because the appointments were done after December 7 2024, after the former administration lost the elections, Minority Leader Osahen Alexander Afenyo-Markin has stated.
The Minority Leader said the dismissals are not about economic prudence but rather a deliberate political cleansing of the public sector to make room for party loyalists and has therefore called for a Parliamentary probe into the Executive decision.
“Article 24 of the Constitution guarantees every Ghanaian the Rights to Employment and Livelihood. These Rights to work cannot be vitiated by an Executive directive, especially when a Citizen has gone through the regular process required for employment. In any event, granted that there was any such procedural irregularity, same can be cured through a process of ratification and rectification, not termination”, Afenyo-Markin has stated.
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He continued: “To the extent that a Citizen has been lawfully issued with an appointment letter and same has been accepted by him and he has entered into the employ of an institution, it will be repugnant to deny such a Citizen his Rights of legitimate expectation that once he is undertaking the prescribed job assigned to the rank in the organisation, the contract of employment is secure and same cannot be terminated.”
Afenyo-Markin said the President’s actions constitute an impeachable gross misconduct under Article 69, warranting his removal from office.
“But is the President acting with impunity because he knows that the Minority Caucus does not constitute one-third of the membership of the House, and therefore cannot trigger impeachment processes under Article 69(2)(a)?”, Afenyo-Markin questioned.
The Minority Leader’s comments were contained in a Private Member’s Motion which had been admitted by Speaker Alban Bagbin. The Motion sought to invoke a Parliamentary probe into the ‘sack them’ directives by the Office of the President.
However, Afenyo-Markin was prevented by the First Deputy Speaker Bernard Ahiafor from presenting the Motion and moving same on the Floor of Parliament on Wednesday after Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga had insisted that the issue of the alleged wrongful dismissals was also a matter pending before the Supreme Court.
Afenyo-Markin explained that the Public Servants whose appointments have been terminated went through the necessary legal and administrative processes. He said the individuals affected were duly vetted, approved, and appointed into the Public Service, and as such, are entitled to the full protection of the law.
“As Public Servants, they are protected by Article 191(b) of the Constitution, which guarantees their security of tenure unless they are lawfully removed for just cause”, he added.
Afenyo-Markin in his statement insisted that the fact that Ghanaians had voted against the government of President Nana Akufo-Addo on December 7, 2024 does not mean that the then president had left office as his term would expire on January 7, 2025 and whatever administrative decisions he took by way of employment into the Public Service was legitimate.
The Minority Leader gave instances where the sitting President Mahama, when he lost the December 2016 elections, continued to make appointments until he exited office on January 7 of the following year:
“Rt Hon Speaker, this is not the first time that Public Sector appointments have been made after a presidential election but before the expiration of the incumbent’s term. There are notable precedents:
“ The appointment letter of Mr. Daniel Domelovo as Auditor-General was written on 19th December, 2016, after the conduct of the presidential and general elections. He was sworn into office just three days before President Mahama left office.
“ Similarly, the Chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Madam Josephine Nkrumah, also received her appointment letter on 19* December, 2016, after the elections. She was also sworn into office three days before President Mahama’s tenure ended.
“The CHRAJ Boss, Mr. Joseph Whittal, was also appointed and sworn in by President Mahama after he [President Mahama] had lost the 2016 general elections.
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“Many other Public Servants were recruited into service in December 2016, after the Ta December, 2016 elections. When concerns were raised at the time, the then Government, through Felix Kwakye Ofosu, explained that John Dramani Mahama was still the President and would continue to be so until 6th January, 2017. The question then is: WHAT HAS CHANGED?”, Afenyo-Markin noted.
According to the Minority Leader, the mass sacking of government workers poses a serious security risk to the country because unemployment remains a persistent challenge in Ghana, with the Government serving as the largest employer.
The mass revocation of appointments, Afenyo-Markin noted, “will not only worsen the already high unemployment rate but also inflict severe economic and social hardships on the affected individuals and their families. Beyond personal distress, these layoffs will have broader economic repercussions.”
