Ablakwa: Gov’t Plans To Employ Over 1,000 Into OGM Despite Recruitment Freeze

The Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has claimed the government is planning to recruit thousand five hundred and seventy 1,570 staff into the Office of Government Machinery (OMG).

Reading the 2023 Budget to Parliament in November, Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta said the government will institute a freeze on hiring civil and public servants.

But referencing page 230 of the 2023 Budget Statement and Economic Policy which speaks of the government’s intention to increase the number of staff at the OGM, Ablakwa faulted the action of the government.

According to him, the government must lead by example.

“Why has this been hidden from the Ghanaian people and the IMF?”.

“Page 230 of the 2023 Budget reveals a higher staff strength ceiling of 3,681 up from 2,111 contained at page 273 in the 2022 Budget. This means govt projects to recruit an additional 1,570 OGM workers in 2023.”

He asserted that this is against the backdrop that overall public sector jobs are expected to decline by 82,666.

He is of the view that any recruitment the government plans to do should be done in a strategic way to benefit all public sector workers.

“If there is opportunity to recruit 1,570 additional public sector workers, why not engage them in more strategic and productive sectors such as Health, Education, Agric or The Interior instead of the bloated, inefficient and wasteful OGM?”

The Office of Government Machinery (OGM) exists to provide accountable, transparent, managerial, technical and administrative services to the Presidency and other stakeholders for the attainment of the government‟s development agenda of improving the quality of life of Ghanaians.

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini