Sarpong, Justice

At the beginning of the year 2011, I resolved to be more tolerant of other views and have a less inflamed discourse with my political opponenets who are not enemies, just of different political opinion and stay away from issues with tribal connotations, so far, so good until our Parliamentarians came up with their salary demands which is so outrageous, insulting, inane, illogical and plain stupid, excuse my language. I read the below newsreel about three days ago which has distorted my sleep anytime I think about it. I am still seething with anger because for the life of me, I can't believe we have these lollop Politicians in Parliament lording it over us.

"Our sources within Parliament say members of a committee set up by the House to review the salaries and conditions of service of the nation’s law makers, for which the services of a consultant has been engaged, initially considered a salary band of between Gh¢ 5,000 and Gh¢8,000, but settled on the compromise figure of Gh¢7,000."

I will tackle the four paragraph quotation briefly point by point and then come back and tell our Parliamentarinas what I think about them. Almost everybody in this forum, if not all work for a living. How many of us have the privilege of determining how much we should be paid by our employers as these Parliamentarians do? They have engaged the services of a consultant and given him or her the salary range he or she can come up with a salary that they can agree to.

These Parliamentarians are telling us that, they can't live on a salary of 2,500 GHC, how insolent. Some of these Parliamentarians were earning less than 1,000 GHC and were among the highest paid civil servants but they are telling us they can't live on 2,500 Ghana new cedis now? What kind of taste have they developed since moving from their villages to Accra?

"The MPs currently receive a salary of about Gh¢2,500 a month. They last had a pay rise in October 2010, when their salaries were increased by 17%."

These Parliamentarians have a 17% pay increase in October, about three months ago and now they want to tripple their salaries to 7,000 cedis, about $5,000 dollars despite 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 2,500 cedis when some goverment employees live on less than 250 cedis a month, have to pay rent, transportation to and from work from this scant pay and pay their children's school fees.

"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 Gh¢6,000 and Gh¢12,000 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.Grossly underpaid as compared to Kenya and USA Parliamentarians? Are these people educated. We don't live in Kenya neither do we live in USA where the living standard is different.

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, they fought to become 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 2,500 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 of 2,500 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