Return Double Salaries To Front Burners

The initiative of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) in calling for the resurrection of the corruption cases on the verge of getting cold is in order.

The GII spoke for most Ghanaians who have given up hope of ever having the cases return to the front burners. For us, the double salary saga is the most important on the list of corruption cases considering the personalities at the centre of it.

Those involved who we hear get jittery anytime the subject pops up on the political space, of course, heaved a sigh of relief when the case suffered a long lull.

Now that the GII has reactivated it, we wish that the relevant state agencies dealing with it would push the button to have it returned where it belongs.

Many ordinary Ghanaians are getting disillusioned about whether politicians when they are caught in the net of corruption would be subjected to the law as would others. The near coldness of the double salary saga has come in handy for them to point at as a typical example.

When a former right hand man of President Donald Trump was jailed after due process, many could not suppress the urge to ask 'can this happen here?'

We have a President who is fighting the odds to ensure that total and unalloyed rule of law stands supreme in this country. We are aware about the challenges standing in his way but are pleased that he is leaving no stone unturned in achieving this goal of making the rule of law the cornerstone of his administration.

It is depressing, however, that those who are impeding the President's efforts at protecting the rule of law against human interference are the culprits in classic corruption cases such as knowingly taking double remuneration in this country.

Of course, when honourable MPs are entrapped in corruption matters such as the subject under review, they must be taken through due process and when found culpable sanctioned as by law established.

There is no justification for this classic case to get cold; the reason why we are adding our voice to the GII demand. There is no reason why MPs who fall foul of the law should not suffer the consequences. Anything short of this represents hypocrisy and double standards in the application of the law which should not be countenanced in a dispensation known for its fairness and obsession with good governance.

We have taken note of the behind-the-scene interventions to render the hot cases cold. This should not be allowed because we are witnessing the restoration of sanity in a country which, until recently, was littered with instances of bad governance occasioned by smelly acts such as double remuneration by persons who should be role models in their communities and at the national level.

Let all Ghanaians and relevant NGOs support the call to return the double salaries saga to the front burners.   The anti-corruption crusade should not suffer let.