NPP are shameless people - Kofi Wayo

Plain-talking Chuck Kofi Wayo, the free minded non-conformist whose opposition to elitist kleptomania in Ghanaian politics has marked him out as cynic, has doffed his hat for President John Dramani Mahama.

Mr. Wayo, who is also the founder of United Renaissance Party (URP), says that government’s decision to slash regime actors’ salary by 10percent is a milestone that marks President Mahama out as an African of extremely rare variety.

“The President has shown that he is a man of the people,” Mr. Wayo said.

On Tuesday, this week, Finance Minister, Seth Terkper told Ghanaians of an awe-inspiring decision that cabinet had made. In a country, self centered greed among public sector workers is more the norm than exception, Seth Terkper announced during his budget presentation in parliament that government had decided to slash by 10 percent, salaries of all regime officials, from the President to Ministers.

The announcement comes on the heels of a long string of fanciful strikes by public sector employees, whose migration on to single spine salary structure has shockingly inspired upheaval instead of appreciation.

In a rat race of strikes, following the implementation of the single spine pay policy, which has mostly tripled salary for public sector employees, National Security Advisor, Brigadier General Joseph Nunoo-Mensah, was made the subject of dirty insults when he told doctors and teachers who were not ready to sacrifice a bit for the nation to pack and leave the country.

Seth Terkper’s announcement of the salary slash for the President and his ministers is the regime show of readiness to sacrifice the country, Mr. Kofi Wayo said.

He pointed out that the decision to slash also constituted a shaming of the erstwhile NPP regime, whose leader, President Kufour, at a point decorated his own neck with expensive jewelry, casting himself in the mode of American gangster rapper, 50 Cent.

Interestingly, the budget which announced government’s decision to slash regime actors’ salary by 10 percent has received the minority and mechanical flak.

Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, Minority Leader in Parliament, is one of the cynics shouting from the roof tops. “You know, the NPP are shameless people, they should tell Ghanaians of any instance when they even thought of slashing their salaries when they were in power,” Mr. Wayo said.

He pointed out that the small austerity that President Mahama and his team have decided to endure is an important step that is also a novelty in the whole of Africa.

The slash is expected to save the public purse some 700,000 cedis that the regime plans to invest into funding maternal health care. “It’s a small but very significant step, if the NPP had done the same, we would be way better than we are today,” MR. Wayo said.