THE MORALITY OF EMOLUMENTS FOR POLITICAL LEADERS
BY RUTH ADJORLOLO, A JOURNALIST
The President has no official residence to lay his head?
Another Administration is now history and we rejoice that the transition was smooth. Really?
A gaping issue that plagues Ghana is the lack of proper traditions in place to take care of past Presidents and their families.
Article 71 of the 1992 Constitution stipulates that some special arrangements should be made for public holders when they exit office after their service to the nation but in effect, some of the provisions are so vague that, any time there is a transition, the issue becomes controversial.
Historically, perks, things given to officials, are anachronisms from the British Colonial days, when a President is exempted from paying taxes and given all the privileges of the Office.
This practice has come to stay after Ghanaians accepted constitutional rule in 1992 with all the good and bad conditions attached. In spite of the fact that we have adopted constitutional rule, it is very important to know that rule of law need not be completely restricted to the law without using our own judgement and discretion in adopting measures that would save the nation from unnecessary problems and hardships.
It is a well known fact that, Ghana is a country where many people make less than GHS300 a month yet we still have an obligation to give politicians “ex-gratia” and to Ex-Presidents, accommodations and cars that drain the national coffers at a time we all cry over a weak economy that cannot meet the basic needs of many Ghanaians.
After staying in office for just four years, the President, his vice and Parliamentarians take home fortunes that leave the mouth of many a Ghanaian wide open in awe.
Those who happen to remain in power after the four years are entitled to another set of privileged emoluments at the end of the next term of office. If we are copying democracies from around the world, especially the United States, let it be known that American Presidents are not given houses and cars when they leave Office.
President Obama has leased a house in Washington DC for temporary stay until his younger daughter goes to College. Elsewhere, the practice is not the same even though they can afford such luxuries.
Until we put an end to all these perks for politicians, Ghana will forever get caught in disputes over State cars and buildings whenever we have a transition of one Administration to another.
Today, President John Dramani Mahama is leaving office after four years in office and he, together with others outgoing MPs are being seen off with huge retirement packages that league many a worker wondering if it is worth it doing any other work apart from being a political leader.
The Members of Parliament (MPs) who lost their seats are also going home with pensions that exceed what some civil servants take as salaries the whole of their working days.
In the case of presidents and the vice, Ghanaians are subjected to the issue of preference of house and other facilities they should be entitled to.
During the first transition in Ghana in 2001, the issue became very topical when some of the privileges of ex-President Rawlings were curtailed, bringing in its wake series of debates as to what retiring presidents should be sent home with.
Though it is a constitutional provision we have all lived with for some years now, it is about time we reviewed this policy to ensure fairness and justice in the area of remuneration of public and civil servants.
One would have expected Ghanaians to review the issue when it showed up in the era of the first transition. Sadly, we have to continually come face-to-face with it after every transition.
It showed up in 2009 when ex-President Kufuor was earlier denied of the privilege of occupying an office he had chosen for himself. Here we are again with the same problem. In all of these, there is something about the provisions of Article 71 of the 1992 Constitution that is of much importance to many Ghanaians, especially those who look on as political leaders take home all the huge ex-gratias and houses just after four years of service. It is about morality!
How do our ex-presidents, vice presidents and MPs feel when they, after receiving huge salaries for four years, grab gigantic emoluments and send-off packages at the expense of the taxpayer who struggle to get their daily bread after queuing for hours in the hot sun to vote for them?
How do they feel when frail and poor pensioners have to attend Pensions offices for days to get their paltry monthly pension, amidst bribe-paying and so on?
Does their conscience free them when they unanimously agree on increasing their emoluments but delay in implementing very crucial bills such as the Right to Information Bill, that would save the nation millions of Ghana Cedis from corruption?
This is truly a morally-depraved generation of leaders whose interests are considered higher than any other interest; a generation of leaders who can only be said to be interested in amassing wealth in leadership than serving the people.
It is no wonder that, they are ready do all things to ensure they win elections; yet they tell us they just want to serve the people.
You want to serve Ghanaians and your conscience doesn’t prick you when you take home huge sums of monies as emoluments after just four years in office, whereas your counterparts in other more developed countries hardly take such monies home?
It is easy and simple to hide behind the law to do all manner of things without falling into any trouble. Many companies and persons in authority have used the law as cover for malicious and selfish acts. The law is man’s making and can be manipulated by man to achieve selfish interests.
That is why, in applying the law, some amount of morality ought to be applied and that is what many Ghanaians are calling for in this matter of ex-gratia and houses for presidents and vice presidents.
It shouldn’t be difficult for ex-Presidents to go back to their own homes after serving the nation, especially when a little is spent in making the house a bit more comfortable. It shouldn’t be difficult for MPs to prove their selflessness and love for the nation by voluntarily asking the nation to reduce their ex-gratia to save the economy.
With the recurrence of this issue, it has become imperative for finality to be brought to the matter to spare the nation of embarrassment we subject the nation to.
Finality to the matter should take into consideration the morality of over-feeding our leaders at our own expense; it should look at the concept of service that is supposed to be sacrificial; it should help deter people from entering politics with the intents of enriching themselves at the expense of the masses.
Political leadership shouldn’t be a means of making quick money but rather a demonstration of one’s commitment to serving the people who employ them to manage their resources.
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