The President's Office has refused to provide information about the 228 political appointees who were purportedly dismissed as a measure to cut costs.

On October 15, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu ordered the dismissal of 228 political employees within 15 days to cut spending under the economic reform agenda.

The political employees to be dismissed included seven State Ministers, 43 Deputy Ministers, 109 Senior Political Directors and 69 Political Directors.

Social media activist Afrah Ismail requested the names, designations, institutions and remunerations of the appointees under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

However, the RTI response posted on Afrah's X account shows that the President's Office had not provided the requested information.

"Among the information requested, the names of political employees are personal information and if the ministries they worked at were disclosed, this could publicize their personal information. So the names of those employees and their ministries cannot be disclosed under the Right to Information Act," reads the response signed by President's Office information officer Mariyam Shaufa.

Muizzu pledged not to increase the number of political employees to more than 700. However, information gathered from various sources confirms that the total number of political employees is close to 2000.

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.