The Minority in Parliament has strongly criticized President John Mahama over the mass dismissal of public sector workers who were employed between October and December 2024.
The leader of the Minority Caucus, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, Member of Parliament (MP) for Effutu, condemned the dismissals, stating that President Mahama will go down in history as the leader who sacked more public sector employees within the first 100 days of his presidency than any other Ghanaian leader.
Following a directive from Chief of Staff Julius Debrah in January, all state agencies and institutions were ordered to suspend the employment of workers hired after December 7, 2024. Consequently, many public sector agencies have either withdrawn or suspended the employment of workers, some of whom were recruited as far back as October 2024.
Among the hardest-hit sectors are healthcare, education, the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), the Bank of Ghana, and the Ghana Water Company.
Hypocrisy in addressing unemployment
During his State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Mahama lamented the high unemployment rate in the country, a statement that drew sharp criticism from the Minority.
In a show of solidarity with the dismissed workers, the Minority MPs appeared in Parliament dressed in black.
They condemned what they saw as the President’s hypocrisy—on one hand expressing concern over unemployment, and on the other, terminating the jobs of thousands of workers.
Afenyo-Markin questioned the logic behind the President’s actions, arguing that his administration was exacerbating the very problem he claimed to be addressing.
Failure to fulfill gender equality promises
Beyond the dismissals, Afenyo-Markin also took issue with President Mahama’s failure to fulfill his campaign promise of ensuring at least 30% female representation in his Cabinet. During his campaign, the President pledged to reserve 30% of Cabinet appointments for women, yet, according to the Minority Leader, only two out of the 19 appointed ministers—representing less than 10%—are women.
Afenyo-Markin expressed concerns over the rate at which the President is breaking his campaign promises, noting that his administration had yet to reach its 100-day milestone.
He emphasized that such early breaches of commitments called into question the credibility of the government and its ability to fulfill other pledges made to the Ghanaian people.
Criticism of President Mahama’s ‘lamentations’
The Minority leader also berated President Mahama for what he described as a speech filled with ‘lamentations’ rather than concrete plans for action.
According to Afenyo-Markin, the President spent his entire address dwelling on the challenges facing the nation without recognizing the progress made over the last eight years.
He further challenged the President’s portrayal of the economy, arguing that if the economy was as dire as he claimed, how was the government still able to meet all statutory payments, clear arrears owed to school feeding caterers and suppliers, increase public sector base salaries by 25%—and in some cases, 30%—support major social intervention programs such as the Free SHS policy, and maintain power supply for eight years without experiencing ‘dumsor’?
The state of the nation under scrutiny
The Minority’s response to the President’s address signals a deep divide between the government and opposition over the true state of the nation.
While the President painted a grim picture of economic mismanagement, the Minority insists that his administration has worsened the plight of Ghanaians through mass dismissals, policy inconsistencies, and failure to deliver on key promises.
