Political appointees at the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Fitness have now surpassed civil service staff, with the number of political employees rising to 386.
Despite repeated requests under the Right to Information (RTI) Act to disclose the total number of political appointees across the government, both the President’s Office and individual ministries have consistently refused to provide the data.
However, a credible source has leaked the list of political staff at the Ministry of Sports to Adhadhu. According to the document, the ministry employs a total of 718 staff, consisting of 386 political appointees and 332 civil servants. The civil service figure includes expatriate workers.
The breakdown of the 386 political positions at the Youth Ministry is as follows:
- Youth Associates: 99
- Senior Political Directors: 136
- Political Directors: 86
- Deputy Ministers: 38
- Assistant Political Directors: 17
- State Ministers: 4
- Ministers and Ministerial Rank: 3 (Minister, Commissioner of Sports, and Advisor)
- Other Special Political Positions: 3 (Sports Decentralization Advisor, Deputy Commissioner of Sports, and Personal Assistant to the Minister)
Under the current administration, the Youth Ministry and the Sports Ministry initially operated as separate entities. However, the two were merged in April following the forced resignation of several cabinet members, including then-Youth Minister Ibrahim Waheed (Asward).
Prior to the merger, Sun Online reported that the Sports Ministry alone employed over 290 political staff.
In a report published on April 7, the news outlet detailed that the ministry’s staff included two ministerial-level officials (the Minister and the Commissioner of Sports), three State Ministers, 18 Deputy Ministers, 114 Senior Political Directors, 78 Political Directors, 20 Assistant Political Directors, and 56 Youth Associates.
While there are currently 15 ministers in the Cabinet, the fact that a single ministry employs over 380 political staff suggests that the total number of political appointees across all ministries likely exceeds one thousand.
Opposition figures have previously alleged that the total number of political appointees under this administration exceeds 2,000. In addition to ministerial positions, political appointments have also been made across various levels within state-owned enterprises.
According to data released by the President’s Office in July last year, there were 922 political appointees at the time. The breakdown included:
- Ministers: 20
- Ministerial Rank: 14
- State Ministers: 93
- State Minister Rank: 7
- Deputy Ministers: 216
- Deputy Minister Rank: 20
- Senior Political Directors: 318
- Senior Political Director Rank: 8
- Political Directors: 169
- Political Director Rank: 4
- Assistant Political Directors: 4
- Other Political Positions: 49
President Muizzu’s presidential pledge was to limit the total number of political appointees to 700. However, the latest figures released by the President’s Office confirm that the administration has already exceeded this limit by at least 222 employees.
