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Akufo-Addo’s audacious spending led to employment freeze – Mahama

EX President John Dramani Mahama has damn the freeze in employment for the public sector announced in the 2023 budget on the audacious lavishness and mismanagement of President Akufo-Addo and his appointees.

John Mahama

Speaking at the 13th Congregation of the Accra Business School on Saturday, the former President admonished new graduates to take up entrepreneurship or look to the private sector for employment as the future looks bleak with the current administration in office.

“Unfortunately, parastatals that were thriving a few years ago have been run into the ground by political appointees who have mismanaged the affairs of the state-owned enterprises. These constraints further the ability of the public sector to employ.

“Let me put our situation in a better context. Compensation cost for 2022 was estimated at 55.3 percent of tax revenue, which means off all the taxes we collect we spend 55.3 percent to pay wages and salaries for the public sector alone, amortization and interest payments consumed the rest of our taxes,” Mahama said.

Adding that “situation has compelled the government this year to announce a freeze or a ban on public-sector employment. This makes the situation rather dire for you…unfortunately due to mismanagement and reckless expenditure by the government over the last five years, the private business environment is also in a very poor state today.”

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Mr. Mahama throws these comments on the back of the government’s announcement of a freeze on hiring into the public and civil service effective January 2023 as part of cabinet directives for expenditure rationalization in the 2023 Budget as the country readies itself for a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

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