The government has rejected reports suggesting that President John Mahama has overseen a massive surge in the Presidency’s compensation bill despite reducing the number of political appointees.

At a press briefing today, the President’s spokesperson, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, dismissed the narrative as “ignorant propaganda” and insisted that the President has not increased any salaries inherited from the previous administration.

His comments come hours after reports that while President Mahama reduced political appointees at Jubilee House from 357 (in 2023) to 233 (in 2025), the Office of the President’s compensation is projected to more than double from ¢100 million in 2025 to ¢248 million in 2026.

The report raised questions about whether a smaller Presidency was becoming a more expensive one.

But Kwakye Ofosu stated that President Mahama has not added one cedi to the salaries of his appointees at the Presidency that he came to meet.

"President Mahama has not added one cedi to the salaries of his appointees at the presidency that he came to meet, and it must be placed strictly on record. So that is that,” he said.

He said that this morning there were publications which were to create the impression that President Mahama had increased the salaries of political appointees at the Presidency, and therefore they said that even though there had been a reduction in the numbers, the salaries had ballooned.

He added that propagandists of the NPP have made the same claim, even though they know, because they were beneficiaries of the arrangements.

The spokesperson invoked constitutional provisions to underpin his denial, explaining that any adjustment to emoluments for Article 71 officeholders, which includes ministers, presidential staffers, and other top state officials, requires a formal committee appointed by the President.

"We all know that when it comes to fixing the emoluments, that is the salaries and working conditions, of Article 71 officeholders, the law is clear, the constitution is clear, that the president must set up a committee to determine those emoluments."

Mr Kwakye Ofosu said that President Mahama has not set up a committee to determine the emoluments and working conditions of Article 71 officeholders.

"For the avoidance of doubt, President Mahama has not set up a committee to determine the emoluments and working conditions of Article 71 officeholders. So the salaries and conditions of Article 71 officeholders who are working today under President Mahama were the terms documented, all the NPP activists making those false claims know."

He therefore stressed that the salaries and conditions of Article 71 officeholders who are working today under President Mahama were the terms documented from the previous administration.