998 Staffers: Minority dispels claims on ¢3bn budgetary allocation and overruns for office of gov't machinery in 2016 The Minority in Parliament has dispelled claims that although the John Mahama administration engaged fewer employees, it spent more. While justifying the 998 staffers working under the current Executive, Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid, said Nana Akufo-Addo’s government is operating with a leaner budget than President Mahama did. The Information Minister stated that for 2016, the previous government had about ¢3 billion but the New Patriotic Party (NPP) came in 2017 with about ¢1.5 billion. In a statement however, the Minority said the Information Minister’s claims are totally false and were made in a desperate effort to justify the “unconscionable packing” of the Presidency with activists of the governing New Patriotic Party. GBCONLINE ---DECRYPTED---