It was reported in the forum yesterday that the salary of the President and the Executive members of government have been increased by more than 100%. Folks, I told forumers this was going to happen if it had not already been done because our so called 1992 constitution which is really a roadmap of how Politicians can rob its citizens blind without using a gun stipulates so.

The whole 1992 constitution is a scam perpetrated on Ghanaians by P/NDC selected framers of the constitution. I've said it many times that, the salary determination of officials of the three branches of government is based on the corruption principle of "BENKUM DWARE NIFA NA NIFA ADWARE BENKUM".The President(Executive) sets up a commission to determine how much the legislature and the Judiciary receives. If the Executive rewards the other two branches of government, that will determine how much the Executive will receive in return, and that is what our constitution says.The Executive recently increased the salary of the legislature by 130% from Gh3000 to Gh7200 retroactive from January 2009.A month later, the Legislature pays the Executive branch of government back with salary increase of more than 100%

The President will now receive Gh12,000 take home pay since our constitution says the President should not be taxed. He doesn't pay for housing because we provides him with free housing, security, free electricity, water, petrol, cars, a plane and all that makes life meaningful. His deputy, the Vice President will receive almost Gh¢10,500. whilst the Ministers of State and their deputies are to earn between Gh¢ 8,000 and Gh¢9000, officials have said. How do we justify paying people like Okudzeto Ablakwa, Fiifi Kwetey and others of their ilk Gh8000 a month when these people four years ago were not working and have no job experience? These people if not the political appointments would be making around Gh500 a month in a best case scenerio.

In the case of the Parliamentarians pay increase,these Parliamentarians are not paying any rent, free fuel to travel around the country, and folks, some of these Parliamentarians still practise their Professions, especially the lawyers in Parliament. Parliament is not a full time job and most of these scalawags have not uttered a word since they stepped in Parliament. It's an insult for these Parliamentarians to tell us that they can't live on 3,000 cedis when some goverment employees live on less than 250 cedis a month, have to pay rent, transportation to and from work from their scant pay and pay their children's school fees. These pen robbers even have the audacity to tell us we cannot afford free SHS because the problem is not cost but rather accessibility. The problem will not be cost if you are earning between 7200 t0 12,000 cedis a month and have to pay at most 1200 a year for SHS fees but for a Joe Six Pack earning 200 cedis a month as a watchman at the Ministries, the problem is cost not accessibility.

"The proposed increase is premised on a number of factors, including what they describe as the difficult economic conditions. As well, the lawmakers say they are grossly underpaid, given that they have oversight responsibility for chief executives of state and public owned companies who usually earn between Gh6,000 and Gh12,000 per month." Difficult economic conditions? What difficult economic conditions? These are the same Politicians telling us that inflation has gone down, the cedi has stabilized, low interest rate, an improved economy, so where are they living?

Are they living on a different planet from ordinary Ghanaian workers? When it suits their motives, they tell us the economy is good but when they want an excuse to steal from us, then the economy is not good, what kind of logic is that? These Politicians speak from both sides of their mouths to flummox Ghanaians to tighten our belts whilst they lose theirs to accomodate their bulging midsections that can put sumo wrestlers to shame.These Politicians are totemic to sheep on their way to the slaughter house, they are bereft of wisdom and are not very conscupiscible. If our Parliamentarians think they are worth as much as the Chief executives of state and Public corporations, they should get out of Parliament and seek those jobs if they have the qualifications these jobs demand to nab those jobs. We did not draft them as Parliamentarians and Ministers, they fought to become Ministers and Parliamentarians and if they are now not happy about the salary as part time workers, yes, Parliament is part-time work, they can resign and go back to their previous jobs, they are nothing special and we can have many people with qualifications as good as they have or better seeking their Gh3000 cedis a month jobs.

I believe in democratic society but of the three arms of government in Ghana, the legislature is the most useless one and least developed. This is a body where the opposition refuse or disagree with all government initiatives whether good or bad and the majority members rubber stamps government initiatives because of political affiliation, like the STX boondoggle of stupidity. It seems our Parliamentarians are fed with offal, they have lost their ability to think. It is an insult to tell Ghanaians you cannot live on a salary o Gh3000f and compare yourselves to USA legislators.

Our Parliamentarians live rent free, petrol free, health free, loans to buy cars backed by ex-gratia you've not earned and even get paid to visit their constituencies in the form of travel allowances. Legislators in USA have to find their own accomodations in Washington, DC, pay for their transportation, no free petrol or housemaids or security guards. President Obama, a former Senator from Illinois lived in a studio apartment, that is a one bedroom with no living area with your kitchen and bathroom in one room, in Washington D.C because he has his house in Chicago where his wife and children were living something that these pampered legislators in Ghana will not even dream of. These legislators are earning more than ten times the minimum wage a new teacher from the Teacher Training colleges earn, that I think is enough for a part-time job.

Why do we have to house these Parliamentarians permanently in Accra instead of living part time in Accra when Parliament is in session only and living amongst their constituents and experiencing what the constituents go through? These Parliamentarians lose their senses of reality when they breath the Accra air.

Let me warn our Politicians that, they should not take Ghanaians patience as a sign of weakness because the next revolution will not be led by any soldier in the mold of Rawlings. The next revolution will be a true one brought about by the heartless dispensation of our Politicians which will enrage the proletariats to embark on a mass demonstration to Parliament and the Castle and chase these thieves looting the coffers of Ghana and building mansions, sending their children abroad for better education and seeking health care in Europe and USA while our dilapidated schools and hospitals lay in ruins.

Our patience are wearing thin, our souls are in sorrow, we are not living, just existing, we have not much to lose, we are walking dead, don't push us over the cliff with your narcisstic behaviour because we will fight back with all the fibers in our body. Don't push us Politicians in Ghana, don't push us, popular uprising is very close than you realise, Ghanaian electorates have had it up to here^.

Justice Sarpong

Houston, Texas

(CARDINAL of TRUTH)