-As Hypocritical Akufo Addo Seeks Killer E-levy From Poor
Available data shows that on a one-to-one basis, Ghana spends about 10 times more money on presidential staffers and the Jubilee House than the United States of America (USA) spends on the White House and staffers at the White house.
Ghana has a population of approximately 30 million, while the US has a population above 300 million, yet, the US has only 1,800 presidential staffers while Ghana has 1,000.
Again, the entire budget of the US presidency is approximately US$ 715 million while Ghana’s is over US$ 470 million.
A peeved Bright Simmons, the Vice President of policy think-tank Imani Africa, questioned the blatant waste of public funds by the Akufo Addo administration. “The US Federal Government is way larger and more complex than Ghana’s…How can Ghana justify a budget of $470 m & 1000 staffers at Jubilee House alone?”
Aside from this, Ghana splashes more money on its Presidency per-capita than any other country in Africa, including countries with bigger economies than Ghana, including Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya.
The Akufo Addo administration’s wasteful use of public funds comes in the heels of its desperation to slap a controversial electronic tax called the e-levy on Ghanaians in what has received widespread condemnation.
This desperation is because the government had borrowed the country into a pit that had made its credit rating on the international money market one of the worst in Ghana’s history. This has made investors and donor agencies skeptical in advancing credit to the country.
Despite this overhanging difficulty in sourcing much-needed development funds, the Akufo Addo administration has been relentless in fuelling wasteful spending and corruption, while forcing austerity measures on Ghanaians.
A few months ago, Whatsup News published how the government was wastefully splurging millions of Ghana cedis on ex-gratia payments on staff at the Jubilee House.
These ex-gratia have also been paid to presidential staffers and security officers who are not covered by the Article 72 office holders’ provisions, Whatsup News gathered from reliable sources.
For instance, one Wendy Sarpong, a special aide to the Chief of Staff Madam Frema Opare was given a staggering GHC 200,000 ex-gratia for her services in the last four years even though she is still a post now.
Also, police and military guards posted to the Jubilee House are reportedly earning up to GHC30,000 each in ex-gratia, while the National Security “boys”, mostly conscripted from the ruling party’s militia group Delta Force and Invisible Forces, are being handed GHC 5,000 much to their anger.
Our sources also tell of how, aside from the ex-gratia, some presidential staffers have been paid salary advance of up to four years.