President's Office Spokesperson Heena Waleed has lied about the number of employees in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) after Adhadhu reported the total number of political jobs given by the current administration.
On Tuesday, Adhadhu reported that the government gave over 7000 political jobs. Heena responded with a post on X and accused Adhadhu of spreading false news.
She said figures released by the Privatization and Corporatization Board (PCB) prove that SOE employees dropped by more than 1000 in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the last quarter of 2023.
However, the figures in the PCB's first quarter report do not match the numbers claimed by the government's Chief Spokesperson.
According to the report, the total number of employees in SOEs was 30,739 at the end of the last quarter (October-December) in 2023. There were 33,284 employees in SOEs at the end of the first quarter (January-March) in 2024. This is an increase of 2,545 employees.
A reliable source told Adhadhu that the number of political appointments made since President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu assumed office on November 17, 2023, is nearly 2000 while the number of political jobs given in SOEs is around 5000.
The source stated that President Muizzu gave an average of 40 jobs to each People's National Congress (PNC) candidate during the Parliamentary election earlier this year. Most of these jobs were arranged in SOEs.
The President, on Tuesday, decided to dismiss 228 political employees due to the high number of political employees and failure to manage government expenditures.
The government has so far refused to disclose the total number of political employees. Although the information had been sought under the Right to Information Act, the President's Office has not complied.
