The former management of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) has dismissed allegations of illegality regarding human resource (HR) decisions taken during its tenure.

In a press statement issued on Tuesday, February 25, the former CEO Kofi Ofosu Nkansah clarified that all actions taken were necessary to address staffing gaps and ensure the smooth execution of World Bank programmes.

"Nothing illegal was done at NEIP. When I took over, there were HR gaps we had to fill to qualify us for our World Bank Programmes, for example, because there wasn’t even a Procurement Unit," the statement read.

The statement further justified the employment of temporary staff, arguing that it was impractical to run numerous projects with only five permanent employees seconded by the Presidency, whose tenure was tied to that of the President.

"I couldn’t have run all the numerous projects with only five permanent staff from the Presidency whose tenure ends on 6th January with the President’s. Who would have been there now to show the new team around? Some of those you are calling illegal are currently there helping the new team," the statement added.

According to the former management, the temporary staff were placed on allowances from 2022 to 2023 under the Ghana Economic Transformation Project (GETP) and subsequently under Government of Ghana (GoG) funds while awaiting the passage of an Act to formalise their employment.

The statement pointed out that similar regularisation of temporary staff had taken place in previous administrations, stating, "In 2017, the NPP Government regularized a lot of temporary staff inherited from 2016 in some of the agencies. This is nothing new."

The statement also defended the payment of allowances, asserting that they were legally processed through bank accounts with appropriate deductions made. "Allowances are not illegal. They were properly paid through bank accounts and PAYE was deducted. You don’t pay SSNIT on allowances," it stated.

The former management also questioned the basis of the allegations, highlighting that the new NEIP CEO had approved similar allowances for January 2025.

"If it’s illegal, why has the new CEO come to sign same allowances for January 2025?" the statement queried.