Gender Ministry says can't disclose number of political appointees due to lost documents

May 26, 2024, 11:05 AM

Gender Minister Aishath Shiham and President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu. -- File Photo

The Ministry of Social and Family Development has informed that the number of political staff appointed to the ministry is unknown due to missing documents.

Under the Right to Information (RTI) law, Adhadhu requested information on political appointees at the ministry from November 12, 2023 to May 1, 2024.

In its response, the ministry said the information requested in the RTI is not available at the moment.

"In the past, the ministry has been moving to different buildings. During this process of moving to different locations, some documents have been lost," the ministry stated.

Despite this response, some of the appointees, ranging from ministers to deputy ministers, can be seen on the Gender Ministry's website.

According to the information, the government has appointed six state ministers and five deputy ministers to the Gender Ministry.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu promised not to appoint more than 700 political employees when he assumed office. However, the opposition accuses the government of creating a record number of political posts.

Some ministries have been responding to RTI requests and disclosing the number of political posts, but the total number cannot be confirmed as all the ministries have not been complying with the RTI requests.

Dr. Aishath Shiham Health and Family Welfare Ministry Political Appointees President Mohamed Muizzu

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