Salary cuts useless with an elephant-sized government - Wereko Brobbey

Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobbey, Chief Policy Officer at the Ghana Institute of Public Policy Options, GIPPO, insists salary slash for members of the executive arm of government as announced by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was pointless. He posited that in place of the 30% salary slash the President announced earlier this year and which he recently affirmed will run into 2023, citing economic challenges, the prudent thing to do was to downsize the government. Explaining his views in an October 31, 2022, Joy FM interview, the engineer by training popularly referred to as 'Tarzan,' also described some government offices as 'irrelevant' and in need of scrapping. "Everybody keeps talking about [the] downsizing of government, the government is far too large. Too many ministers, irrelevant development authorities, too many district assemblies and this issue of saying that Ministers will continue to give up 30% of salary, it is a completely useless thing to push. "Because it is not the nominal salary of the appointee that matters, it is the on-cost to the nation," he stressed, citing the fact that all of the appointees will be entitled to accommodation, security, PAs, etc., which will affect the cost of running the government. "Downsizing the government actually makes a substantial difference in the expenditure that we are having," he added. President Akufo-Addo's government has at times been referred to as elephant-sized, and multiple calls have been made asking that it is pruned down, but Akufo-Addo has defended the number explaining that the NPP agenda needed everyone to execute. What Akufo-Addo said about salary cuts in October 30 address: In April, after the Cabinet retreat of the first quarter, and recognising the deteriorating macroeconomy, my government announced a thirty percent (30%) cut in budgeted discretionary expenditures, and a thirty percent (30%) cut in salaries of the President, Vice President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MMDCEs and political office holders, amongst other measures," he said. In laying out some measures to help alleviate the current hardships, he submitted: "We have decided to review the reforms in the energy sector, capping of statutory funds, implementation of the exemptions Act and a new property rate regime. "We have decided also to continue with the policy of a thirty percent (30%) cut in the salaries of political office holders including the President, Vice President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MMDCEs, and SOE appointees in 2023, just as we will continue with the thirty percent (30%) cut in discretionary expenditures of Ministries, Departments and Agencies." Watch this episode of E-Forum below. SARA/PEN