30 political appointees on Health Ministry’s payroll

The Health Ministry has been revealed to employ a total 30 political appointees in various posts.

Information obtained by Sun under the Right to Information Act shows the ministry currently employs 30 political appointees.

They are:

• Minister: 1
• Personal secretary to the minister: 1
• State minister: 5
• Deputy minister: 7 (the President’s Office website shows information for only five)
• Senior political director: 10
• Political director: 6

It is estimated that the state spends around MVR 1 million monthly on the salaries of these 30 political appointees.

The Health Ministry was allocated a budget of MVR 2.6 billion this year. Information released by the Finance Ministry shows MVR 564.4 million has been spent.

The employment of hundreds of political appointees in government ministries alone comes amid concern over wastage of public funds on unnecessary appointments.

Following President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s 2023 presidential election win, his spokesperson Mohamed Firuzul said the administration’s political appointments would be capped at 700. But the the figure disclosed by the President’s Office in 2025 exceeds the promised cap by 222 officials.

The opposition has long alleged the actual number of political appointees exceeds 2,000.