2002 budget exposes dishonesty in Kufuor's assertion

The Youth Wing of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Thursday said the 2002 budget statement calculations exposed the dishonesty in President Kufuor's assertion that emoluments in the public sector currently formed 70 per cent of the total national revenue.

They said " it is sad to note, the statement by the President is far from being an honest one, in fact whoever gave the figure to the President did so dishonestly and had an intent to deceive, in the light of the facts available at the Ministry of Finance."

A statement signed by Mr Haruna Iddrisu, National Youth Organiser quoted the portion of President's Kufuor's Sessional Address, which said, "I am convinced that if government is honest with the people, there will be more understanding.

"Expenditure on emoluments in the public sector is now more than 70 per cent of total government revenue. This means therefore that without a dramatic increase in revenue, it is near impossible to have appreciable increase in salary levels."

They described the President's statement as a red herring adding that "faced with the demand of the Ghanaian workers for over 60 per cent increase in minimum wage, following the near 100 per cent increase in fuel prices, the statement was deceit of a kind meant to court public sympathy for the government while making workers appear unpatriotic and unreasonable."

"Certainly this is not a government that intends to be honest with the people," the statement said.

It said tables in Appendices (2) and (3) of the previous budget statement, which contained information on revenue and expenditure, shows a total emoluments of 43.65 per cent.

However, Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance, told the Ghana news Agency that the figures quoted in the NDC statement represented only salaries and wages and did not include allowances; car loans and Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) contributions.