Editorial : The Muntaka Fall-Out

Now that the former Minister of Youth and Sports, Alhaji Muntaka Mohammed, has resigned, there are lessons that the NDC government should learn and be guided by.

Firstly, it should not be up to individual civil servants to tell Ministers what those Ministers are entitled to and vice versa. The civil servants are not the bosses of the Ministers and it is highly unacceptable that they should be blamed when Ministers make outrageous demands on them. The government should have one rule book on allowances and entitlements for Ministers which they should be provided as soon as they are appointed.

Secondly, the government should revisit the practice of providing Ministers with “protocol and entertainment” items. Politicians should begin to develop the moral feeling that the cocoa farmer or the miner did not toil so that politicians would pay themselves fat allowances and on top of everything be supplied with free booze , cakes, biscuits and ice-cream in their houses. By doing these, politicians contribute to the erosion of people’s faith in the political system. If the ordinary people were to lose faith in the political system, the consequences would be dire for everyone.

Thirdly, we question any commitment on the part of the government to implement any whistle-blower’s legislation since it is obvious that the blowers in Alhaji Muntaka’s case appear to be ending up as victims.

President Mills should watch out, otherwise there would be no difference between his government and that of ex-President Kufuor on the issue of malfeasance by Ministers.