Public Money Should Be Public Money

I take my hat off to Mr. Nana Yaw; the taxi driver who so bravely went after the armed robbers who attacked a lady at Cantoments in Accra. I commend him and thank him. I must say, though, that I find it very disturbing that President Mahama will see it fit to reward him with public money at his say so.

Shouldn’t the money the President spends be designated by Parliament for a particular purpose with a particular criteria? If the President can, at his say so, give out a house for Mr. Yaw’s bravery, what will stop him from giving a house to his relative, his friend, or whoever he chooses? What about people who do equally commendable work that don’t make it into the news? I see this as no different from former Head of State Acheampong saying, “The woman came to me crying. What do you expect me to do?”

There are children who still go to school under trees. The cost of a house can put shelter over their heads. The cost of a house can buy them desks or maybe books. The fact that we can’t seem to see the difference between public money and private money is what has dogged Ghana over the years.

I would be saluting the President if he had dipped into his own pocket and bought Mr. Yaw a house. I would equally commend him if he had used his influence to raise funds to buy Mr. Yaw a house. Public money is public money. Maybe the more we have that in our minds, the less corruption we will have.

The gesture is noble but the approach should never be to spend public money this way. I am very disappointed.


Tony Pobee-Mensah
tpobeemensahr@yahoo.com