Mahama gov't accused of breaking law over missing 2024 staffing report

Kow Essuman, who served as legal counsel to former President Nana Akufo-Addo, has accused the Mahama government of breaking the law by allegedly failing to submit the annual staffing report for the Office of the President for the 2024 calendar year.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, June 11, Essuman said the report – which should cover staffing levels at the Presidency from January 1 to December 31, 2024 – was required by law to be submitted to Parliament by March 2025. He challenged officials to confirm whether they'd complied and to make the report public.

According to Essuman, annual staffing reports were consistently submitted during the Akufo-Addo administration. The 2023 report, for instance, was presented to Parliament in March 2024. He said those records remain in the Presidential Archives and can be verified.

“So the critical question is this: did this government submit the report in respect of staffing for 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024? If they did, they should provide us with the numbers as at the time President Akufo-Addo was leaving office. If they didn't, then it's a serious breach of the law,” Essuman wrote.

He argued that transparency is needed to settle the ongoing debate about staffing numbers at the Presidency. If the report was submitted, he said, the government should release the figures showing the staffing levels that existed when Akufo-Addo left office.

Essuman insisted that accountability applies to all governments, regardless of political party. “The law is no respecter of persons. Accountability isn't a partisan project; it's a constitutional duty,” he added.

The former presidential adviser served under Akufo-Addo from 2017 to 2024. His role included providing legal advice to the president and the Office of the President.

Under Ghana's Constitution, the Office of the President must submit an annual report to Parliament detailing its staffing, including numbers of employees, their grades, and salary costs. The deadline is usually three months after the end of the calendar year – March 31 for the previous year's report. Failure to submit could be considered a breach of the Constitution.

This isn't the first time staffing numbers at the Presidency have been a political flashpoint. During the 2024 election campaign, the NDC and NPP traded accusations over bloated staff sizes. The Mahama government hasn't yet responded to Essuman's claims.