THE FAILURE OF THE POLITICAL GROUP

Ghanaians today are bearing the brunt of a worsening economic situation as if they had never experienced such a condition before. In fact, just over a decade ago, we had found ourselves in a near similar situation where then leaders had opted for a HIPC initiative to give us some respite from a mounting national debts that we could not finance with a lean domestic revenue.

Today, our economic difficulties only pay tribute to the fact we have been pursuing the same old path that had led us to our pre-HIPC state. A presenter on an Accra Fm station noted on his programme that we have been believing our own lies for some time now. Even when we do not meet any target in any economic bench mark, we find a way to convince ourselves that we are doing well.

Things are really bad for our economy. Government cannot meet its financial obligations. It is a fact that government financial obligation to institutions such as the NHIS, district assemblies, special schools, the school feeding programme and many other important sectors of our economy is much challenged.

For me, the state of the economy is evidence of a poor job in the way the political class had handled the economy for some time now. An honest evaluation of the work of all political parties who had ruled this country in recent years will leave no doubt that no concrete efforts were done by any of these parties to find lasting solution to any challenge that confronts any sector of our economy. The best they could do was to save the situation as best as they could possibly do at the time. That possibly may be the reason why in one time it would seem as if we were doing well and the next moment we would find ourselves with the stack reality of the performance of our economy.

If this is not the case why then did it seem that the economy was doing fine prior to the 2012 election, then just after the election every sector of the economy seems to be failing. The sad part of our difficulty is that the political class will not accept that they have failed us. In some jurisdictions you could find political leaders resigning from their positions to show their remorse for a bad job done in the sectors they preside. But this is not the case in our world.

In our case, the political group blames the citizenry for the difficulties the economy is currently facing. Quite loudly, they blame the implementation of the single spine as the main cause of our present economic difficulties. Let us take for granted that the single spine implementation had put a strain on the national budget. The question is are public sector workers not receiving these monies legitimately? Should we then call for the annulment of paying ex-gratia to our political leaders because after all they end their term leaving the country economy almost bankrupt?

The truth is our political leaders have fed on us for far too long. They come, do almost nothing even for the attractive benefits they enjoy as ministers and parliamentarians. Then after four years, they are given handsome packages at the peril of the national economy. The ordinary public servants had to manage a paltry sum as pay all his working life and would go home with almost nothing as gratuity. And yet the politician is uncomfortable with a single spine that has brought some meaning to the working life of the public servant. What is good for the goose is equally good for the gander.

As we speak, we have heard of an attempt by government not to pay some salary areas of public sector workers. That would mean if one was employed in a public sector and it took one year for one's salary to be regularized, one suffers the risk of government not paying you for all the months one had worked for the government. When there is a call for sacrifice in Africa, the politician only looks at the citizenry. You would expect that the political class in calling for the citizenry to make sacrifices for the nation, these leaders would come out with the sacrifices they in turn would want to make to save our nation.

Some public sector workers are up in arms against the government demanding what they believe they are due in respect of the national cake. The ruling class believes that these workers must show magnanimity to the government in respect of the difficult times that we find ourselves. But the truth is that workers do not trust the political class in respect of the later having the moral courage to be fair when dealing with the later. The fact is until we find some equity in what goes to persons under article 71 vis-à-vis what goes to the public servant, it will be difficult for any leader to take the moral stance to demand that the ordinary worker makes the sacrifices, especially in these difficult times.

Getting a people to rally behind a common goal will largely depend on the credibility of the ruling class. Our leaders have in the course of time lost credibility in the eyes of the masses and hence have failed in even uniting us around a common goal. I am tempted to think the Senchi forum and its outcome will not help us. Right so, because it is not as if our leaders do not know what they need to do; it is just that they lack the resolve and discipline to work to achieve even the goals they set for themselves.

As we wait for the magic wand that will turn things around for our micro and macro economy, the real economy of the people descends into an abyss.

PAUL K ZOWONU
UTOR-ACCRA