Employment and Labour Relations Minister Dr Rashid Pelpuo has accused the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration of deliberately burdening the incoming government with thousands of unplanned recruitments for political gain.
He explained that the decision to impose an additional 12,000 workers on the state just before exiting power was a calculated political move.
“So they had done this over a period of time, hoping that in the culminating imposition of another 12,000, they would have then won the hearts of the young people and given them another mandate,” Dr Pelpuo said on JoyNews’ PM Express.
He argued that the hiring was not motivated by a genuine intention to provide sustainable employment but rather by electoral considerations.
“That’s the assumption — that what they are doing has some level of political decision tied to it. Not necessarily because they wanted to pay them, but just to give them the impression that they, too, are employed,” he explained.
Drawing parallels with past political transitions, Dr Pelpuo referenced the challenges inherited during the NPP’s earlier handover in 2009.
“Remember when President J.A. Kufuor was leaving, what was imposed on us was the Single Spine Salary Structure, which Atta Mills had to struggle with. So it’s like their DNA to give the incoming government a problem — let them fail, and let the people say that they have failed,” he stated.
He criticised the practice of last-minute policies and recruitments by outgoing governments, describing it as politically harmful and unsustainable.
“It’s not a good thing for us to be doing. Once your point of existence as a government comes to an end, go. The people had already rejected you. There’s nothing you can do to bring yourself back to power. You can’t recreate a future which has been lost. We are not complaining,” he stressed.
Dr Pelpuo, however, assured that the current administration is working to address the issue of unpaid workers left behind by the previous government.
“We are working towards ending this problem of unpaid workers. We acknowledge the fact that young people need to start life and be comfortable working for what they have been employed to do. So we are doing everything to make it possible that we solve this problem, maybe before the end of the year,” he assured.
