MONSTROUS SALARIES AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE IN GHANA

There is nothing in the history of the fourth Republican dispensation that continue to attract so much public outrage, dissent and condemnation like the announcement of upward adjustment in the conditions of service of members of the legislative and the executive arms of Government.

Where as our leaders and some other Ghanaians usually consider such increments as paltry sums relative to what their colleagues in other countries enjoy , the majority of ordinary Ghanaians often receive the news with fright and disbelief with some people describing such upward adjustments as unacceptable and a blatant lack of sensitivity on the part of our leaders to the plight of the suffering masses.

MPs etc have often been quick to dismiss the public criticisms as unfair, citing ; amounts that their colleagues in other countries take as salaries , the salaries of heads of public corporations and the huge sums of money that people with lower qualification take ,as salary , in private establishments, to support their argument. Some have gone a step further to mention the morally questionable high salaries that are paid to the staff of some NGOs in the country to reinforce their points.

There are still those who go to the extent of contemplating on resigning their positions in order to ply their profession in places where nobody will raise concern over how much he or she earns .

These obviously are genuine concerns, but there is also no doubt that there is some truth in the worries of the ordinary Ghanaian over the apparently high salaries of our leaders.

The point is that, if our leaders are right in saying that what they take in terms of salaries as servants of the state is a pittance and at the same time the ordinary people keep lamenting that the amount is too huge , then obviously, there is a problem with the economy. It means we are confronted with the problem of an economy that is incapable of providing Ghanaians with meaningful conditions of life which ultimately means that our leaders, as people who are hired by the electorate to manage the affairs of the state have not been doing enough , since 1992 to justify even the' little' they are paid as salaries.

It is a clear case of our leaders, as the proverbial farm worker , reaping bountifully where they sowed very little. Surely the owners of the farm, namely the people , will not be happy about such a situation.

The petty trader, carpenter and taxi driver who have to struggle so much in order to eke out a living, the teacher ,nurse and civil servant , who go through thick and thin before they are able to put up their own houses, the security officer who is always at the peril of the activities of wrong doers because he is without the basic logistics for his work, the farmer who has to toil through out the year only to receive a paltry sum for all that he produces from his farm and the businessman who after investing so much in his business, has to go through the pain of watching his business collapse or grow at snail's pace because of lack of market or poor economic infrastructure including; unreliable power supply, will certainly be alarmed by any upward adjustment in the salaries of MPs and others, no matter how small the increment may be.

Same, will be the reaction of the thousands of disenchanted unemployed youth who roam the streets on daily basis in search of non existing jobs, the hundreds of homeless women and children who are compelled by unfortunate social and economic circumstances to spend the night in kiosks and open places even against the odds of the weather and the uncountable number of physically challenged people as well as the thousands who are afflicted by all manner of diseases on daily basis.

We must also not forget the sorry state of the road that links Assin Fosu to Twifu Praso through Assin Adiembra, and the Pre-School children of Kwae-Jamestown in the Kwaebibirim District who are without a proper classroom for example, as well as, the numerous CHIPS compounds and health centres which are without even motor bi-cycle to convey women in labour and sick people in the villages they serve, for medical attention.

If these are the realities on the ground, then it is only fair and just to say that our leaders have not been working hard enough to build that kind of thriving economy that will make it possible for all citizens in different sectors of the economy to earn meaningful income in order to have some level of dignifying life and therefore warrant the salary they take as servants of the state. Otherwise, Ghanaians will not even spare a moment to complain about them taking too much money in terms of conditions of service.

After all, Democracy is the way we as a people have chosen to govern ourselves , for the reason that it is said to be a good system of government. If that is the case, then the people will not have any problem with spending resources on the personnel and institutions that keep the system running, provided it will be ran well and effectively to the benefit of all citizens .

BY: JOSEPH TETTEH, FOUNDER, FOUNDATION FOR YOUTH PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT(FYPD)

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