Finance Ministry 'unaware' of salaries of political appointees citing no separate records

Finance Ministry has withheld information regarding the expenses related to the salaries and allowances of political appointees, stating that such details are not recorded separately — even though the Ministry is undertaking the responsibility.

It is an electoral pledge of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu to cap political appointees in his administration at 700. While the opposition claims the actual figure ranges between 2,000 and 3,000, the government has made considerable efforts to withhold specific details regarding the total number of political appointees.

Amidst intense scrutiny, the government published the list of political appointees in an unexpected announcement after 12:00am on July 16th. As per the list, there are 922 political appointees in the current administration.

The main opposition, MDP, has criticized the government, arguing that the rise in spending on salaries and allowances does not align with the officially stated number of political appointees.

Aik Ahmed Easa, a member of MDP’s legal team and a former Finance Ministry employee, submitted a request on March 31st under the Right to Information Act, seeking details on the number of political appointees as well as the expenses incurred for their salaries and allowances.

He had requested information on the total amount spent on the salaries and allowances of political appointees, the duration for which each appointee received these payments, and a breakdown of the total expenses incurred for each political appointee individually.

In its response, Finance Ministry said the information of political appointees appointed to the ministry or an office is overseen by the respective ministry or the office. Aik, unhappy with the response, requested the Ministry to provide a revised response.

The Revision Committee, in its response on April 6th, said it sees no grounds to revise the previous response.

As such, Aik filed a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (iCOM). An online meeting in the case was held on Sunday, attended by Information Commissioner Ahid Rasheed, Aik and a legal assistant from Finance Ministry.

The meeting was published by iCOM on its YouTube channel.

During the meeting, Aik explained that he filed the complaint based on two key points: first, since all state expenditures are carried out under the name of the Finance Ministry, the Ministry should have records of all such expenses; and second, if an individual submits a RTI request seeking information not directly available within the Ministry, the Ministry is obligated to obtain that information from the relevant source and provide it to the requestor under the law.

The Finance Ministry official underscored that the Ministry’s response detailed it is not the Ministry which maintains the records of salaries and allowances paid to political appointees. In this regard, the official emphasized that the information is not specifically recorded separately.

Subsequently, Ahid inquired whether Finance Ministry lacked the information requested by Aik.

“It is not information that this Ministry records separately and keep,” Finance Ministry’s legal assistant said in response.

Ahid then inquired whether the requested information is available in a consolidated form at any government office, to which the Finance Ministry official responded that the information is not available in such a form. He underscored that the Finance Ministry should have the information if each Ministry sends the salary sheets of its employees to the Ministry.

“It is not categorized separately. Political appointees and other employees are not identified separately,” the Finance Ministry official said.

The Finance Ministry official reiterated that the Ministry does not maintain any records which categorizes political appointees separately and is not aware if any other government offices maintain records in this manner.

However, the official noted that the Ministry has information pertaining to its own staff, nevertheless, does not maintain separate records for political appointees and other employees.

Then, Ahid asked whether the Finance Ministry would be able to respond if a request is filed seeking the information of political appointees in the Ministry and the expenses incurred for their salaries and allowances. In response, the Finance Ministry official repeated that the information is not categorized separately.

“But did you just not say that the Ministry has already publicized its political appointees?” Ahid refuted, referring to earlier remark made by the Finance Ministry official.

In response, the official requested additional time to answer the question. As the meeting neared its end, Ahid instructed that the remaining questions be answered in writing within two days. He added that once the information is received, a follow-up meeting would be scheduled either to seek further clarification or to issue a ruling on the case.

The Maldives’ high debt burden continues to be a significant concern, with international financial institutions warning of a potential risk of default. Both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have urged the government to reduce its spending.

Despite these warnings, statistics indicate a rise in spending on salaries and allowances compared to the previous year. According to the latest data published by the Finance Ministry, the state spent MVR 4.3 billion on salaries as of September 4th, an increase from MVR 4.03 billion during the same period last year. Similarly, MVR 3.84 billion was spent on allowances, up from MVR 3.64 billion in the corresponding period last year.