Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has criticised the government’s decision to cancel appointments made after December 7, 2024 by the previous Akufo-Addo administration, describing it as unfair.

The Chief of Staff Julius Debrah, early in the week directed all state institutions to revoke such appointments.

But speaking in Parliament, Afenyo-Markin described the move as harsh and unfair to young people who had gone through proper recruitment processes.

“State institutions have been issuing termination letters revoking appointments, and it is causing a lot of trauma to the youth in the country who have been employed by the state,” he said.

He said some workers from the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Ghana Water Company (GWC), GRIDCo, and Ghana Health Service (GHS) had all been affected.

“In our own Parliament here, recruitment started as far back as June, July, August. It is only around January that some people received their appointment letters. They go through interviews, do aptitude tests, and pass medicals.

"But today, our youth are being sent home. They went to work, and they were asked to come home. Where do they find food to eat, feed their families and themselves? What is going to be their future?” Mr Afenyo-Markin questioned.

While acknowledging the Chief of Staff’s good intentions, he called for the directive to be clarified, saying, “Knowing the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, he meant well and I believe that perhaps some clarity would have to be given.”

However, Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga rejected Mr Afenyo-Markin’s claims. He defended the government’s decision, describing it as a responsible step to correct what he called the “reckless” actions of the previous administration.

“I served as a member of the transition team, and I recall that during that period, there was a mad rush to employ people even after a party had lost an election and was on its way out,” Mr Ayariga stated.

He added that the incoming administration had warned the outgoing government against the late recruitment but was ignored.

“We told our counterparts who were outgoing ministers that that practice must stop, but they said they were still in office until 7 January and would do whatever pleased them,” he said.

Mr Ayariga stressed that the revocation of the appointments was necessary because the recruitment had been done without proper planning.

“You must have physical space before you employ people. You are leaving; we are coming in. We haven’t told you that the public money available is what we want to commit to paying workers. You cannot clog the physical space and leave us with problems,” he argued.

“What the Chief of Staff has done is proper. It is consistent with good governance, and we will review the recruitment that took place and reverse them as indicated,” he said.