The Minority in Parliament has criticised the Finance Minister over his recent defence of the dismissal of more than 1,000 Ghanaian youth from public employment, accusing the government of unfairly targeting workers recruited under the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.

Addressing the press on Tuesday, July 29, the Minority said it was “unfortunate and shocking” that the Minister attempted to justify the dismissal of over 1,000 young Ghanaians from employment on the grounds that they were recruited during the final months of the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.

The controversy stems from the Minister’s comments made in Parliament last week during the presentation of the 2025 Mid-Year Budget Review, in which he attributed rising wage pressures to what he termed “last-minute recruitment” carried out under the NPP in late 2024.

“Mr Speaker, we have seen some significant pressures on the compensation budget for the first half of 2025,” the Minister said. “The wage pressures were largely driven by the last-minute recruitment undertaken by the previous government in the last quarter of 2024.”

Reacting to the statement, the Minority expressed outrage, insisting that all public sector recruitment, particularly in education, health, and security, is only undertaken after financial clearance has been granted by the Ministry of Finance itself.

“It is shocking because the Minister is fully aware that recruitments in those sectors follow strict procedures, including mandatory financial clearance from his own ministry,” the Minority said.

They further accused the government of hypocrisy, claiming that while qualified youth are being laid off for purely political reasons, the same administration has flooded ministries, departments and agencies with partisan appointees.

“What the Minister has conveniently failed to mention is the growing number of special assistants, personal advisors and even former media associates of the ruling party who have been imposed on various public institutions all being paid from the taxpayer’s purse,” the Minority noted.

They added that many of these political appointees are undermining the authority of professional civil servants, creating dysfunction within the public administration and inflating the wage bill far more than the so-called last-minute recruits.

“If the minister wants to know about the excessive wage budget, he should not look far; his office alone has a countless number of advisors. And they are even marginalising civil servants who have been recruited and paid with taxpayers’ money," the group noted.