Claim salaries of presidential staffers have increased under Mahama a flat lie — Kwakye Ofosu

Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has dismissed claims that salaries for presidential staffers have increased under the current administration.

The government on Tuesday, June 9, submitted to Parliament a list of staff the Presidency worked with in 2025, showing a total of 808 employees.

Following the submission, some communicators of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) argued that although the number of staff had reduced, the salary bill had increased under the Mahama administration.

The claims were amplified by former Legal Counsel to ex-President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Kow Essuman, who questioned what he described as a ballooning budget for staff at the Presidency despite the reported reduction in numbers.

Essuman in a social media post on Thursday, June 11, also accused the government of failing to pay salary arrears and benefits due former presidential staffers and political appointees, while paying current staff under the salary adjustments approved on January 6, 2025.

However, responding in a social media post on the same day, Kwakye Ofosu described the allegations as false and misleading.

“It is FLAT LIE that salaries of the staff under this Presidency has ballooned. The current staff at the Presidency inherited your salaries and conditions,” he stated.

According to him, the reduction in staff numbers means the overall salary bill under the current administration would be lower than that of the previous government once all outstanding arrears are settled.

“It is in fact a MATHEMATICAL CERTAINTY that the total amount paid in salaries to the current staff will be smaller compared to yours once your arrears are paid because of the reduction in numbers,” he noted.

The minister further argued that the salaries and conditions of service currently being applied were approved by Parliament on January 6, 2025, following a proposal by the previous administration.

He stressed that the Constitution does not permit any alteration to those salaries and conditions until a committee is established to determine the emoluments of Article 71 office holders under the new government.

The minister noted that no such committee has been constituted by President John Dramani Mahama and therefore no changes have been made to the approved salary structure.