The mahama government is six months young. Clearly by their campaign pledge, they have a reset agenda and although some think the going is slow, it could be argued that a slow motion is better than no motion at all. We can see that the government is working hard to reset the one particular issue dear to everyone in the country, the economy. I have heard or we are being told that there will soon be either legislative or executive instrument which when activated will set to control excessive paynents of pecks and allowances to article 71 people and others (even though I feel until then, the chief of staff should start checking on appointees’ foreign travels.
Appointees are travelling as if to confirm a certain ingrained mentality which tells us that solutions to our local problems can be found or are to be found in New York, London, Berlin or in Paris). All such travels cost money and in many cases the returns is tangibly insignificant. Fact is, most of governments appointees official travels yields very little for the country. As for the nurses and some of their demands( e.g, 13th. Month salary) if accepted and approved will completely destroy the little economic headway the country is making. They for now are demanding too much. They can’t have it. the country can simply not afford it. But going forward, government should cut down on parliamentarians and other article 71 people’s allowances and perks as well. At this present time some employees in the public sector are getting too much.
In a more strong, advanced and clever economies outside Ghana, unless a particular organisation makes profits for governments, top executives in those companies do not enjoy such huge perks. The travelling allowances, the height allowances, the vehicle allowances, the overnight allowances, the list goes on and on and on. No wonder nurses, who are paid to learn their trade will feel they are entitled for even more. The government should concentrate on build a strong economy so we can reduce or eliminate over reliance on perks to compensate shortfalls. Mansa Musa, mawie!
