He said this when he appeared before parliament to answer questions on employment in the country, the Employment Minister said the source of his information is the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department.
He further indicated that there have been fewer replacements due to an embargo on public sector appointment. The embargo comes from Ghana signing up to an IMF deal that is expected to end in April this year.
The erstwhile Mahama administration placed an embargo on public sector recruitment in 2010. However, the current government in January this year said that it will begin more recruitment into the public sector this year as the country prepares to exit the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
In 2015 Ghana signed a three-year Extended Credit Facility with the IMF. This saw the IMF providing the government with some US$918million in eight tranches.
As part of the agreement, Ghana has to freeze employment into the public sector except in critical areas. This was to restore the country’s debt sustainability and macroeconomic stability to foster a return to high growth and job creation.
In December 2018, the IMF boss Christine Lagarde said Ghana has been on track in meeting all conditions of the programme.
Subsequently, Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said the government is hopeful it will get financial clearance this year to engage a lot more in the public sector as it prepares to exit the programme.
