President of IMANI Ghana is questioning the competence of some 256 junior political officers government has appointed in a list of 998 workers at the presidency submitted to Parliament.

But for their competencies exhibited on Facebook, mostly to make noise, Franklin Cudjoe says it is difficult to understand how they ended up as junior appointees.

“I don’t know whether it was job for the boys,” he suggested.

He made the comment on Joy FM’s midday news, Monday in reaction to a list of appointees at the Presidency submitted to Parliament in line with Section 11 of the Presidential Act 1993 (Act 463).

The list includes nine ministers of state at the Presidency; 27 presidential staffers, 256 junior appointees and 706 employees of the public sector assigned to the Office of the President.
This brings the total number of appointees to 998.

The list has created a controversy with partisan colouration both on social and mainstream media.

While ministers and government spokespersons have vehemently defended the list, critics some of whom belong to the opposition National Democratic Congress, have rubbished it.

Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul, on Newsfile, Saturday said, of the 998 names submitted to Parliament 706 are civil servants bequeathed to the Akufo-Addo administration by the previous government.

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He emphasized that president Akufo-Addo only made 292 appointments and not 998 as suggested in the media.

He also dismissed assertion all the 998 workers were going to be stationed at the Jubilee House, the seat of government, adding some of the workers will be stationed at the Osu Castle; the former seat of government, Castle Annex, Peduase Lodge and all other outfits captured under the Office of the Presidency.

But a former Presidential Staffer, Clement Apaak, has been quick with a rebuttal.

He told Joy News the “elephant size staffers’” list is a drain on the public purse.

“Technically every political appointee working at the Office of the President is a presidential list,” he added.

Contributing to the debate, Franklin Cudjoe said while in opposition, the NPP criticized the large-sized appointee at the Presidency named by the former government.

“There was decent understanding we couldn’t be padding up the numbers at the Presidency,” he stated.

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“I am wondering what 276 [256] junior political officers are doing at the Flagstaff House.

“I have looked through the list and some of them I know them. Most of them were facebookers, making noise on Facebook. I don’t know whether it was a reward…”

Franklin Cudjoe also raised issues with the total number of technical advisors and their deputies.

He called for better efficiency at the Presidency.

Source: Myjoyonline.com April 23, 2018