In the face of Ghana’s glaring revenue challenges and mounting debt debacle, economist Dr Kofi Amoah says the time has come for the NPP government to adopt some of the cost-saving proposals and suggestions made by popular Namibia politician McHenry Venaani when Namibia faced a similar situation.
Using a viral video as the basis of his claim, Kofi Amoah told GhanaWeb in an interview that “Ghana can gain not only in cost savings but we can gain with simple lifestyles of leaders to show that we are not a rich country but a poor, struggling one.
“The Namibia example of cost savings must be replicated all over Africa, especially in “broke” Ghana.
Our expenditure patterns have created an unpardonable class structure… the HAVES and HAVENOTS, where the Haves live as vampires on the blood of the nation, and the HAVENOTS are the victims and poor losers."
It is not a secret that Ghana’s economy has been ailing in the last couple of years, with high inflation, a weakening cedi due to depreciation, and rising debt service cost.
It is the reason the government is currently engaging the International Monetary Fund for a bailout that will also return investor confidence in the Ghanaian economy.
The current economic turmoil may not be peculiar to Ghana alone. However, Dr Kofi Amoah says certain proposals and measures by other African countries who have faced or facing the same challenges can be adopted as part of the recovery process.
According to Dr Amoah, the suggestions espoused by Namibia’s popular Democratic Movement (PDM) leader McHenry Venaani is worth emulating and implementing.
In 2019 during a press conference, Namibia’s opposition leader told the government that they must first introduce harsher austerity measures like reducing the number of vehicles assigned to politicians. “If they want the public to contribute 2% of their salaries”, Venaani charged.
He made these remarks after the call by the government for people to voluntarily contribute a once-off 2% of their salaries for drought relief, at a media conference held in Windhoek.
McHenry Venaani also called for a halt to the practice of government officials travelling first class, something he says should alone be the preserve of the president and not regular government officials. “There is no justification for that, no justification unless you are super rich.”
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He also touched on government officials travelling with their wives who are also given different allowances for hotel even though they are expected to share a room with their partners.
He also advocated for the abolishment of perks such as Entertainment Allowance for senior government officials.
He also wants the reduction in the number of motorcades for top government officials in these harsh economic periods so the country can save money to improve the lot of the citizens.
Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo this year announced that he has slashed his salary by 30% due to current economic difficulties.
Speaking as the guest of honour at this year’s Eid Al Adha prayers in Accra, the president announced the cut to send a signal to citizens about the need to sacrifice as the country goes to the International Monetary Fund for support.
He also announced a 50% cut on fuel for government machinery.
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