Reverse mass dismissals - Dr Bawumia to President Mahama
Former Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has called on President John Dramani Mahama to reverse the recent mass dismissals in the public sector.
In a Facebook post, Dr Bawumia described the dismissals as “arbitrary” and “unfair”, adding that it was ironic for a government that campaigned on job creation to now be rendering young Ghanaians unemployed.
He said when Ghanaians voted for change in the 2024 general election, they manifested the desire to continue with national development but the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which campaigned on a promise to provide jobs, was dismissing legitimately employed people.
“It is ironic that a party which campaigned on the wings of jobs for all Ghanaians is arbitrarily dismissing the same Ghanaians, rendering them jobless, just because a different government employed them to put their talents to bear on the nation’s development and earn income to cater for themselves and their families.
“The least a party that campaigned on jobs could do under conditions of unemployment is to also innovate and create jobs rather than dismiss people,” he said.
Democracy
He further argued that the dismissals go against the democratic principles outlined in Ghana’s 1992 Constitution and urged the President to reconsider his administration’s actions.
Beyond the job losses, the former Vice-President also raised concerns over growing insecurity, citing attacks on journalists, military raids on the homes of former government officials, and what he described as a worsening climate for democratic governance.
"This is rather reminiscent of a military takeover and not a peaceful democratic transition," he warned, adding that Ghana must protect its institutions, democracy and citizens.
Dr Bawumia, therefore, called on President Mahama to take urgent action to restore faith in the country's governance.
“Therefore, I call on President Mahama to be a President for all Ghanaians by putting a stop to these developments, reversing the unfair dismissals, and protecting all our citizens. We must advance our democracy.
We must protect our state institutions.
We must uphold our Constitution. Ghana can do better. Ghana must do better”.
About a week and a half ago, the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, issued a directive revoking all appointments and recruitments made into the public service establishments after December 7, 2024.
Mr Debrah, in the directive, requested all heads of government institutions to take necessary steps to annul these appointments and recruitments into public offices.
The move, according to the Chief of Staff, was consistent with the government's stance on near-end-of-tenure appointments and recruitments, which were deemed non-compliant with established good governance practices and principles.
A comprehensive report on the actions taken is expected to be submitted to the Office of the Chief of Staff.
The directive triggered mass criticism particularly from key members of the New Patriotic Party with the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, urging the government to halt the directive.
