Alban Bagbin
Speaker of Parliament, Alban S.K. Bagbin, has directed the Business Committee to urgently relist and schedule for debate a long-standing Minority motion seeking parliamentary action over the termination of public sector appointments following changes in government.
The directive was issued on the floor of the House yesterday after a prayer by the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who raised concerns about delays in addressing the impact of a Chief of Staff’s directive that led to the dismissal of thousands of public sector workers.
Speaker Bagbin stressed that the instruction was being given to the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, in his capacity as Chairman of the Business Committee, and not as Leader of Government Business.
“This thing has gone on since the inception of the Fourth Republic,” the Speaker said, lamenting what he described as a recurring pattern where changes in government result in the termination of appointments, often unlawfully and without compensation.
Drawing on his own experience, Mr. Bagbin recalled similar incidents in 2001 and 2009, including the mass dismissal of staff of the former National Mobilisation Programme, some of whom sought redress in court but were unable to enforce favourable rulings against the state.
“We can’t keep on this way. We have to improve,” the Speaker said, adding that Parliament must be given the opportunity to provide guidance on how such matters should be handled going forward.
He described the Minority’s motion as “a good motion” and instructed that it be treated as urgent to allow the House to pronounce itself on the issue.
Earlier, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin told the House that the Chief of Staff’s March 2025 directive, which ordered state agencies to terminate the employment of persons recruited after the 2024 elections, had been applied excessively and unfairly.
According to him, evidence available to the Minority showed that Ghanaian youth who were lawfully employed as far back as 2017 were also dismissed, contrary to the scope of the directive.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin said the Minority’s initial motion on the matter was admitted by the Speaker but was halted after a preliminary objection raised by the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, was upheld by the First Deputy Speaker, Bernard Ahiafor.
According to him, a subsequent motion for review was later admitted and partly debated, with assurances from the Chair that it would be concluded the following week.
However, he said the matter had remained unresolved for several months due to scheduling challenges, despite repeated prompts to the Majority side.
Describing the situation as a serious livelihood issue, the Minority Leader claimed that more than 15,000 Ghanaian youth had been affected and remained unemployed over a year after the directive was issued.
He appealed to the Speaker to allow the House to conclude debate on the motion and rule on the establishment of a committee to investigate the dismissals, saying it was important for affected workers to know that Parliament cared about their plight.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House