President’s office has no control over the number of employees
The Office of the President says it agrees with the Parliamentary Select Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs on some of its conclusions that the President’s office has more staff than necessary. But the Chief of Staff, Kwadwo Mpiani is quick to add that the Office of the President disagrees with assertions that the number of staff increased between the years 2001 and 2002.

Parliament last week expressed its concern at the increasing number of employees at the President’s office, which has led to a duplication of roles and inefficiency. According to the Select Committee’s report, as at December 31 last year, the number of employees had increased to 750 from 718, a year before.

But Mr. Mpiani explained to JOY FM that the President’s office has no control over the number of employees working at the office.

“We have departments like Auditor General, Controller and Accountant General, Parks and Gardens, PWD, where they attach people to the Office of the President … They are all here and we take all of them as part of the General list of people who work in the Office of the President”.

The accusation has been that the NPP government lacks the necessary political will to ensure that there is a reduction in the number of employees at the President’s Office.

But Mr. Mpiani disagrees and says there is little the office can do because it does not have a direct hand in the employment of the people.

“The problem we have here is that we inherited this number of staff, they are part of the Civil Service, and you know with the Civil Service regulation, it’s not easy to just to get rid of somebody”.

This notwithstanding, steps are being taken to reduce the staff.

“We’ve been trying to see if we can take advantage of the Alternative Employment Policy to interview those we think are redundant and find a way of helping them in alternative employment such as going out to be on their own, in private businesses, or if they can be transferred to other areas”, Mr Mpiani added.