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Sunday 08 Jun 2025
LOCAL EDITION
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LOCAL EDITION
Minister Dr. Mariyam Mariya. (Sun Photo/Moosa Nadheem)
The new Agriculture and Animal Welfare Ministry spent MVR 12.7 million on salaries and allowances for its political appointees by the end of April, including MVR 5.42 million on living allowances alone.
Information obtained by Sun under the Right to Information Act shows spending by the ministry on political appointees between November 17, 2023 and April 30, 2025.
It shows the ministry has 48 political appointees, including three state ministers, 10 deputy ministers, 21 senior political directors, and 13 political directors.
They all receive a monthly living allowance and a phone allowance, with state ministers and deputy minsters paid a living allowance of MVR 12,500, senior political directors paid MVR 10,000, and political directors paid MVR 9,000.
State ministers and deputy ministers also receive a phone allowance of MVR 1,000, and political directors receive MVR 500.
Monthly pay:
According to the information, the ministry has spent total MVR 6.91 million on the basic salary for political appointees as of the end of April, MVR 333,508.58 on phone allowance, and MVR 5.42 million on living allowance.
The total spending on the payroll of political appointees stands at MVR 12.7 million.
Many previous administrations can conducted work on agriculture and fisheries sectors through Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. But President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, who took office in 2023 with the largest cabinet to date, decided to create two separate ministries – Fisheries and Ocean Resources Ministry and Agriculture and Animal Welfare Ministry - a decision he said is aimed at engaging in more dedicated efforts to develop the sectors.
It was Dr. Aishath Rameela who originally headed the Agriculture and Animal Welfare Ministry, before resigning a year later in December 2024 after she got diagnosed with cancer. President Muizzu then appointed then-Higher Education Ministry Dr. Mariyam Mariya to head the ministry.
Information released by the Finance Ministry shows the Agriculture Ministry spent MVR 1 million in 2023, and MVR 53. 6 million in 2024 – MVR 21.7 million more than the budgeted MVR 31.9 million.
The ministry was allocated a higher budget of MVR 65.7 million for this year. And the spending as of the end of May stands at MVR 16.2 million.
During his 2023 presidential campaign, President Muizzu had pledged to cap political appointments at 700. But information from various sources put the number at between 2,000 to 3,000 appointees.
Following criticism from the opposition regarding the high number of political appointees, President Muizzu announced in October 2024 that he was dismissing 228 political appointees as a cost cutting measure. The President’s Office announced the next month that 248 political appointees had been dismissed.
However, the President’s Office has refused to share details regarding the political appointees in question. The decision was appealed with the Information Commissioner’s Office, which in January instructed the President’s Office to disclose the information. But the decision was appealed by the President’s Office with the High Court.
In his first press conference in over a year on May 3, during which President Muizzu spent a record 14 hours speaking to reporters, he said he was unaware of the secrecy surrounding information regarding political appointees, and promised to disclose the information.
He also said that he was unaware of the appeal filed with the High Court to prevent the disclosure of the information, and said the information should not be withheld.
He said that he would disclose the information regarding each and every political appointee.
But the information hasn’t been disclosed in the one month since.
