leaders, the active ‘quickscan’ that has been launched at the Ministry of Home Affairs (BIZA) has revealed that there are almost 700 spiritual leaders on the government’s payroll. This means that there are almost thrice the number of spiritual leaders than is allowed which means that the state has violated its own laws and rules for many years.

The active quick scans also revealed other shocking facts: most of these people evidently lack the qualifications to call themselves spiritual leaders. Some of them should have gone into retirement years ago but are still on the payroll.

The law also states that spiritual leaders must retire when they reach the age of 60 because they are in fact state employees. When they turn 60, they can get an extension of 5 years in the form of a labor agreement. “We currently have more than 70 who are older than 65,” said Home Affairs Minister Marinus Bee. Some of these spiritual leaders and pseudo-spiritual leaders will turn 80 but are still receiving a government salary as if nothing is wrong. Minister Bee labels this unlawful. “These people are in fact unlawfully receiving money from the Ministry.

We will take a closer look at this.” The minister wants to find out how it was possible for some of these spiritual leaders to be assigned to the Home Affairs Ministry. “We do not even know if they are religious leaders.” In January 2026 the current administration will pull the plug on unlawful payment of salaries. All of the spiritual leaders will be summoned to present their credentials and to get registered again. But the many spiritual leaders are not the only ones who are draining the treasury. Reports also indicate that tens of millions of Surinamese dollars from the treasury are spent to cover the salaries of ghost employees every month. There are clear indications that about 2,000 state employees have started a new life abroad while still receiving their salary in Suriname. A rough calculation indicates that more than SRD 60 million of the taxpayers’ money flows freely to the bank accounts of these so called ghost employees. The Ministry of Home Affairs (BIZA) has decided to put a stop to this. The days of the state employees who still receive money even though they do not actually show up at the office and do not actually perform labor are numbered. Minister Marinus Bee recently made it clear that in January 2026 these ghost employees will get one final chance to report for duty. After their chance has expired, sanctions will be imposed. “We will not only freeze their salaries but we will also start the process of firing them,” said Minister Bee who added that “January 2026 will be the moment of truth.”