Top officials who were sacked less than two weeks into the new administration had been appointed without a proper vetting process, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu said on Tuesday.
Two ministers of state and a board member of the Privatization and Corporatization Board (PCB) were removed from their posts during the first 14 days of President Muizzu's government.
The first to be dismissed was Mohamed Fahmy Hassan as a State Minister at the Foreign Ministry. It came after his appointment drew criticism from the public over his previous sacking as president of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) over sexual harassment.
The second dismissal was Munnim Anees as a State Minister at the Tourism Ministry. The President's Office did not state a specific reason for his dismissal but Adhadhu learned that he had actively campaigned for former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's re-election.
The third official to be dismissed was Hassan Mughnee, former managing director of the State Electricity Company (STELCO) and State Minister for Environment. Less than three days after his appointment to the PCB, President Muizzu reconstituted the board without Mughnee.
During a press conference at the President's Office on Tuesday, a journalist asked why so many political appointees needed to be sacked in such a short period. In response, President Muizzu said administrative mistakes had been made.
"I did remove two or three appointees from their posts. That was an administrative mistake we made. They were appointed without checking some things. The appointments had not been done right," he said.
As a follow-up question, a journalist asked what specifically the government failed to check. But the President did not provide further details and repeated that some things had not been checked. It will not be repeated in the future, he assured the public.
"We will correct it in the future. Such a thing won't happen now," the President said.
