Ever since the Russian-Ukraine war began, Russia being a country that has the largest gas reserves in the world, making them the largest exporter of natural gas in the world shipping an estimated 196 billion cubic meters of gas per year, had to halt the supply of gas to several regions, leaving hundreds of thousands of inhabitants without has. This action saw the price of global fuel skyrocket, which drove up the cost of living, food prices, and transportation in a way that hit West African countries hard with Ghana not being an exception.
Countries in developed and developing nations have been hit hard this period, and the governments of countries affected are constantly seeking ways to boost the economy of their country. Just recently, Ghanian President Nana Akufo-Addo and his ministers decided to slash their salaries by 30 percent to reduce unnecessary spending as the country struggles with high fuel cost which was caused by the Russian-Ukraine war, and stalled progress on a new tax.
According to Ghana’s finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta, he announced that foreign travel by government appointees, except for critical missions, and the purchase of imported vehicles have been suspended with immediate effect. The government of Ghana has been struggling to raise domestic revenue as gridlock in Parliament since last year has stalled the passage of a controversial 1.75 percent E-levy tax aimed at bringing in additional funds.
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The country has come out with strategies to help boost the economy of the country in this challenging period. They have also decided to include a 50 percent cut in fuel coupon allocations for all political appointees in the country, and all heads of government institutions. According to data published by the bank of Ghana, it indicated that the country’s debt to GDP was 80.1 percent at the end of December 2021.
The slashing of salaries for Ghana’s president and his ministers is indeed a laudable one, which I strongly commend. This gesture shows that the president of Ghana has his country at heart and he is also hell-bent on boosting the country’s economy as well as seeking solutions to the country’s challenges. It might also interest you to know that Ghana’s neighbor Nigeria, is also struggling with similar problems as Ghana. The country has been ravaged with poor power supply and also the prices of petrol and diesel have skyrocketed which has caused inflation in the country.
But despite all these challenges the country is facing, there has been no evident measure taken by the President and ministers in ensuring that they seek ways to improve the country’s economy. With the high level of corruption that goes on in the country, I doubt that the president will take a cue from Ghana’s government by slashing his salary and that of his ministers. It might interest you to know that a third-world country like Nigeria has one the highest-paid legislators in the world. What an irony!
The average legislator pay is more than 50 times Nigeria’s GDP per capita. This is a country where millions of people live on less than two dollars daily. The legislators’ pay is indeed outrageous and needs to be slashed to meet the country’s needs. The yearly allocation for the National assembly, which has less than 10,000 individuals on its payroll, surpasses the annual budgets of 21 States in the country. While the country continues to deal with financial issues which can be traced to the slump in global crude oil prices, the president and lawmakers continue to receive outrageous amounts as take-home salaries yet the country also keeps borrowing.
It can be recalled that in 2017, the government of Kenya had to cut the salaries and allowances of top state officials in a bid to reduce the country’s wage bill. The case of slashing lawmakers’ salaries has always been different as it seems like an impossible thing to do in Nigeria. Each time there is a call for the slash of lawmakers’ salaries it is usually followed with an act of rebellion from them. It’s high time the government of the country look into the salary of government officials and slash their salaries starting from the presidency because it doesn’t make sense that a developing nation has one of the highest-earning legislators, yet its economy is unstable.