The Deputy Minister-Designate for Lands and Natural Resources, Yusif Sulemana, has defended the government’s decision to terminate the employment of individuals allegedly appointed into the public sector without due process by the previous administration.
This follows a directive from Chief of Staff Julius Debrah, instructing heads of government institutions to cancel all public service appointments and recruitments made after the December 7 elections, citing irregularities and a lack of budgetary provisions.
Speaking during his vetting before Parliament’s Appointments Committee, Sulemana justified the move as a necessary step to correct procedural flaws and ensure accountability in public sector hiring.
“When you do something wrong, someone will have to do something to correct it. I cannot imagine a situation where you will go ahead and employ people when you don’t have a budget for them,” he argued.
“How then are they going to be paid? I think it is even in the interest of those who are asked to go to start looking for other jobs rather than allowing them to work and, at the end of the day, there will be no money for them to be paid,” he added.
Sulemana further stressed the need for a national conversation to prevent outgoing governments from making rushed appointments to benefit party loyalists.
“Instances where you sit in the comfort of your office and select people and recruit them, and we ask them to go home for the proper thing to be done, I think it is the way to go,” he stated.