Nana Addo’s freeze on personal salary is a mark of sacrificial leadership - Amoako-Atta

A leading member of the New Patriotic Party in Tema Central, Owuraku Amoako Atta, has praised President Akufo-Addo’s announcement of a freeze on salary increment for himself and his appointees, saying the measure is demonstrative of a caring leader.

In a write-up, Mr. Amoako Atta, who is also a government appointee at the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) says the announcement is a signal that hits it home to the Ghanaian people that the sacrificial times are not the burden of the masses alone.

“With this well-placed signal, we the general citizenry are comforted in the knowledge that the sacrifices that we are making by way of having to pay more taxes are shared in a way by our leaders. It is not the case that monkey is working and baboon is chopping,” Mr. Amoako Atta wrote.

He adds, “We the citizens are therefore encouraged to stand up to the tides of the time and respond to the call to battle against the common enemy, COVID-19. These are sacrificial times and President Akufo-Addo is living up to the demands of these times to provide sacrificial leadership.”

Addressing the nation during an event to celebrate Workers’ Day on May 1st, the President announced he was putting a freeze on salary increment for himself, his Vice, Mahamudu Bawumia, and his Ministers to assist the country to recuperate from the adverse effect the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the economy.

“I have taken the decision to freeze salary increment for this year, 2021 for myself as president, the vice president, ministers, deputy ministers, and all appointees of the executive.

“It is our modest contribution to reduce the damage to our public revenue and to help hasten our nation’s recovery from the ravages of the pandemic,” he stated.

The announcement has since been welcomed by many as an encouraging step from the President to Ghanaians after government announced a slew of new taxes in the 2021 budget to help the country recover from the devastation from COVID-19.

According to Owuraku Amoako Atta, the revelation of the President’s sacrifice also deflates accusations from his detractors that the new taxes that were announced in January were insensitive.

“Now we can all see that when the government announced new taxes for the purpose of raising money to recuperate the economy from the impact of COVID-19, those taxes were not forged out of sheer cruelty as some detractors of the President have claimed but out of necessity.

"His Excellency the President is himself sacrificing to overcome COVID-19 as well and this speaks volumes of the current situation,” he added.