Miracles Aboagye, Ablakwa 'spar' on social media over number of presidential staffers

The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, in a Facebook post, accused President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of employing more presidential staffers than any other government in the 4th Republic of Ghana.

Ablakwa, who was reacting to the Annual Report on Staffing at the Office of the President for 2022 presented to Parliament, said that the number of political appointees under the Akufo-Addo government exceeds that of President John Dramani Mahama by over 400 per cent.

He added that the total number of workers at the Office of the President under the Akufo-Addo government in 2022 was even high than that of the John Agyekum Kuffour government which had a record 758 workers.

“From available records in Parliament, the highest number of comparative political appointees ever reported in the entire Fourth Republic was 70 in 2012 which declined remarkably to 31 by 2015. In reality, President Akufo-Addo has added an incredible 291 political appointees to the NDC’s highest number. That is a spike of some 415.7%

“I will have to point out that from parliamentary records, the highest number of combined staffers (political and non-political) before the Akufo-Addo post 2017 era was 758 recorded in 2002 under President Kufuor. President Akufo-Addo breaks this record by some 38.2%,” parts of the MP’s tweet read.

Reacting to this, in a tweet, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, the Director of Local Government Services at the Office of the President, said that Ablakwa’s claim that there were 31 presidential staffers in 2015 was false.

He added that the number of presidential appointees under Mahama in 2016 was 118.

“Hon. @S_OkudzetoAblak's claim that the highest number of comparative political appointees ever reported in the entire Fourth Republic was 70 in 2012 which declined remarkably to 31 by 2015 is FALSE. In 2016, Other Political appointees under Prez Mahama were 118,” parts of his tweet read.

Miracles also shared a document that showed that the total number of appointees under Mahama in 2016 was 897 which is higher than the 758, Ablakwa mentioned for the Kufuor government.

View the social media post of Ablakwa and Miracles Aboagye below:

My thoughts on Prez Akufo-Addo’s unprecedented 1,048 staff at Ghana’s Presidency, including an incredible 361 political appointees, and how the treacherous conduct of a few MPs appear to have emboldened the President on his path of perdition despite the current economic meltdown. pic.twitter.com/1UAOYZZ0Dn

— Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa (@S_OkudzetoAblak) March 30, 2023

Hon. @S_OkudzetoAblak claim that, the highest number of comparative political appointees ever reported in the entire Fourth Republic was 70 in 2012 which declined remarkably to 31 by 2015 is FALSE. In 2016, Other Political appointees under Prez Mahama were 118. #FortheRecrods… pic.twitter.com/ZZf4wN9nqQ

— Dennis Edward Aboagye (@DennisMiracles) March 31, 2023

Ours is to help inform the citizens with the facts and allow them to make their own judgement.

I am sharing this information not to defend, justify or equalize in any form.

But to reiterate the point that, as usual, Hon. @S_OkudzetoAblak peddled falsehood when he claimed that… pic.twitter.com/P50bWKt3Q5

— Dennis Edward Aboagye (@DennisMiracles) March 31, 2023

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