Minority Chief Whip Raises Alarm Over Alleged Irregular Recruitment of 3,000 Staff at EPA
Minority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh has called on President John Dramani Mahama to intervene in what he describes as a deepening institutional crisis at the Environmental Protection Authority, alleging that over 3,000 contract staff were recruited without the required financial clearance.
The Nsawam-Adoagyiri MP raised the concerns in an open letter addressed to the President on Wednesday, warning that the situation carries serious consequences for environmental governance and investor confidence in the country.
According to Annoh-Dompreh, the recruitments were carried out at a time when the EPA did not yet have a properly constituted Governing Board, and without prior clearance from the Ministry of Finance as required under public financial management procedures.
He further alleged that some recruits were placed on salary levels higher than those of existing senior technical and management staff, and that others were positioned directly into senior roles without following established grading structures or career progression requirements.
The MP said subsequent financial clearance obtained from the Ministry of Finance covered only approximately 500 of the positions, leaving the majority of recruited personnel without a clear legal or financial pathway to regularisation.
The situation has been compounded by drastic pay cuts affecting newly recruited workers.
Annoh-Dompreh alleged that candidates who were offered monthly salaries ranging from GH¢8,000 to GH¢14,000 at the time of their appointment have since had their pay slashed to between GH¢3,000 and GH¢4,000 — a reduction he described as nearing 70 per cent.
He noted that some of those affected resigned from permanent positions, including teaching jobs, on the basis of the original salary terms. With their former posts now filled, he said those individuals find themselves stranded with no viable alternatives.
“Those who resigned from their teaching posts cannot return since their former positions have been filled. They are now trapped, earning less than junior clerks, yet overqualified for alternatives,” he stated.
The Minority Chief Whip warned that the episode was sending a damaging signal about the reliability of public sector employment contracts in Ghana, urging the President to order an immediate administrative and financial review of the recruitment exercise and ensure the restoration of the original salaries promised to affected workers.
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