Former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has criticized President John Dramani Mahama for dismissing public service workers employed under the Akufo-Addo government just days before leaving office.

According to Dr. Bawumia, Mahama’s decision to dismiss public workers employed by the previous government is a threat to democracy.

“Unfortunately, I need to speak up on recent developments that pose significant threats to our democracy.

“To look away whilst these ills persist is to abandon my responsibility to remind President Mahama and his government of the overriding duty to live by the democratic tenets envisioned in the 1992 Constitution and do justice and ‘right to all manner of persons.’

“When Ghanaians voted for change in the 2024 general elections, it manifested the desire to continue with national development, albeit with different people at the helm of affairs.

“It was within this spirit that I gave an early concession speech, urging all Ghanaians to support our new president as he attempts to make his contribution to the cumulative progress successive governments have chalked over the years,” he said.

In a Facebook post on February 19, 2025, the former Vice President, who doubles as the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer for the 2024 general elections, argued that there is no basis for the president to have sacked the government employees just because the previous administration employed them.

“Since assuming office, however, the government of President Mahama has pursued a series of actions targeting Ghanaians who were legitimately employed during the previous administration. It is ironic that a party which campaigned on the wings of jobs for all Ghanaians is arbitrarily dismissing the same Ghanaians, rendering them jobless, just because a different government employed them to put their talents to bear on the nation’s development and earn income to cater for themselves and their families.

“The least a party that campaigned on jobs could do under conditions of unemployment is to also innovate and create jobs rather than dismiss people,” he added.

Dr. Bawumia continued, “Regrettably, these dismissals have been extended to directors who are public servants and not politicians. In some of the cases, the only reason for dismissal was that the persons whose livelihoods have been destroyed are known to or related to politicians as if to suggest that they cannot live independent professional lives.

“However qualified they are, there are also reports of government’s intention to terminate the appointments of persons performing critical jobs such as security personnel, nurses, and teachers simply because they were appointed during the tenure of the previous administration. That will be most unfortunate.”

According to him, there is a general atmosphere of insecurity and attacks in the country, including against journalists.



AM/KA

You can also watch Godfred Dame's full speech on legal case withdrawals below: