Cost-cutting: Government takes lead

One issue that keeps emerging in this country is the reference to the need for cost-cutting by the government at a time when the econom­ic conditions facing the country and the world as a whole are highly unfa­vourable.

The call has come from political oppo­nents, especially the National Democratic Congress (NDC), who appears to have no good alternative to this coun­try.

EMPTY CRITICISM

Members of the NDC appear to be interested in criticising only but not to come out with sugges­tions that will go a long way to help the country.

Cost-cutting for the economy of Ghana has actually been done by the Akufo-Addo adminis­tration.

Any honest person in Ghana can attest to this fact. It is only those who are dishonest who cannot accept this as a matter of fact.

EXPENDITURE CUT DOWN

If the NDC and their co­horts will be honest with themselves, they will be the first to admit that, in the midst of economic difficulties, the govern­ment has tried hard to cut down on its expendi­ture.

Not only has this gov­ernment been able to cut costs, but it has also been able to carry out economic development in various sectors.

The sectors include agriculture, industry, trade, transportation, health, education and many others. These would be discussed at another time, but for now, let us concentrate on cost cutting.

REDUCTION OF

MINISTERS

The NDC has pointed out that President Akufo-Ad­do should cut down on his ministers from 86 to 65.

Most of these min­isters are also parlia­mentarians, so what it means is that the par­liamentarian’s salary, if he or she is also a min­ister, will only bring in a difference of 2,000 to 3,000 Ghana cedis.

This means that even if 10 ministers are dropped, the gov­ernment can only save about 20,000 Ghana cedis since the civil ser­vants in the ministries cannot be sacked.

WEAK ARGUMENTS

For this reason, the NDC and its cohorts do not have any good points to stand on. Their argu­ments are not convinc­ing enough, so they need to think of something better.

It is unfortunate that, as people in opposition, they are not able to come up with alterna­tives that will help the country.

SALARIES CUT DOWN

Last year, President Akufo-Addo directed all his officers to have their salaries cut by 30 per cent. This measure tak­en by the government saved the country over 19 billion Ghana cedis. Ministers’ and their deputies’ salaries were reduced to save money. Members of the Council of State also agreed to cut their salaries by 20 per cent. All these have saved the country sub­stantial amounts.

In the case of the NDC parliamentarians, they have stated that they will not agree to cut their salaries by any amount.

This goes to show that the NDC faction is not patriotic enough to lead this country. For this reason, Ghanaians will have to make sure that they make the NDC stay in opposition for a long time.

DOUBLE SALARIES

What makes the matter annoying is that under former President Maha­ma, some of his minis­ters were paid double salaries. Ministers were paid in full under Maha­ma. At the same time, those of them who were MPs were also paid full salaries as such.

In all, the Mahama administration had 79 ministers, so the dou­ble salaries paid to them over that period amounted to more than 85 billion Ghana cedis. This is unbelievable!

So, which of the two parties, the NPP or the NDC, loves Ghana more than the other?

UNFAIR CRITICISM

Ghana’s First and Second Ladies are supposed to be paid some allowanc­es, but because of some unfair criticism from the NDC, the current First Lady has declined to take those allowances. The same thing applies to Mrs. Bawumia, wife of the Vice President.

These are facts that show how dishonest and wasteful the NDC is.

Meanwhile, apart from the two ladies, Maha­ma’s wife and all the others are enjoying that allowance. What hypoc­risy!!!

If all 275 MPs in Gha­na agreed to cut their salaries by just 10 per cent, the country would be able to save over 60 million Ghana cedis ev­ery month. Are the MPs thinking about this?

We hope the NDC is thinking about this also.

Email address/ WhatsApp number of author:

Pradmat201@gmail.com (0553318911)

By Dr. Kofi Amponsah-Bediako