The Mahama administration has annulled 541 public sector recruitments, appointments, and promotions that occurred in the final days of the Akufo-Addo government, following an extensive review conducted by a presidential committee established to investigate a contentious surge of hiring activity that transpired after the December 7, 2024, general elections.
Presidential Spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu disclosed the findings during a press briefing on Tuesday, providing a comprehensive breakdown of what he characterised as a necessary exercise in due process — not a politically motivated purge.
After the NPP’s defeat in the December 2024 election, the outgoing Akufo-Addo administration faced allegations of hastily executing a series of public sector appointments during the lame-duck period between the election results and the January 7, 2025, inauguration, a practice that critics argue has become a persistent aspect of Ghana’s political transitions.
The Mahama government stated that it had reached out to the Akufo-Addo administration, requesting a collaborative review of the appointments made during the transition period.
That request, it claims, was outright ignored.
Upon assuming office, the Chief of Staff issued a broad directive mandating all institutions to annul appointments made after December 7, a sweeping order that itself drew criticism for potentially encompassing legitimate, merit-based hires.
The presidential committee was specifically established to address that conflict — examining each institution individually to distinguish compliant appointments from those that breached established procedures.
Among the 36 institutions that presented before the committee, 28 had initiated their recruitment processes prior to the elections on December 7.
Thirteen institutions independently revoked appointments in response to the directive from the Chief of Staff, while 17 others did not comply immediately but instead sought guidance from the Office of the President.
In total, the committee examined 2,080 recruitments, appointments, and promotions. Out of this total, 879 had already been revoked by the institutions themselves following the earlier directive.
The remaining 1,201 were left unrevoked while awaiting the committee’s recommendations.
Following its review, the committee advised that 1,539 of the 2,080 cases be upheld — these were appointments that adhered to established procedures and for which letters had been issued before December 7, 2024, achieving a compliance pass mark of 80 per cent or higher.
The remaining 541 were recommended for revocation. Kwakye Ofosu stated that these cases failed on two grounds: the recruitment processes were completed after December 7, and they did not meet the necessary compliance standards.
It is noteworthy that the 541 revocations suggested by the committee were actually fewer than the 879 appointments that institutions had cancelled on their own following the Chief of Staff’s initial directive.
The difference, as explained by Kwakye Ofosu, was intentional — a result of special consideration given to vulnerable groups, particularly individuals with disabilities within the Ghana Education Service.
“There were some of our compatriots who suffered some disability. But we found that their recruitment should be revoked because it did not comply with the laid-down process. But because of their peculiar situation and the hardship that could be imposed upon them if we were to enforce this directive, they were given some clemency,” he said.
He added that, “The previous government was fully aware that basic requirements were not met in those cases and still went ahead to sanction them,” he said, adding that the exercise was carried out “without malice or ill-feeling towards anyone” and was “a necessary step to uphold the rule of law and ensure accountability”.
