Correct the wrong

For me, most of our leaders in Africa only realize power resides in the people only when they lose political power or when it’s time to go place ballot boxes in polling stations.

Certain political actors in the erstwhile administration triggered the change Ghanaians anticipated, supported by your thoughtful and fine policies projected during the political campaigns.

Barely six months into government, you seem to be repeating similar mistakes which triggered the change………treating the public sector worker with no respect!

Sitting in the comfort zones of your air-conditioned offices at Accra [a place most Ghanaians misconstrue as Ghana] to delete the names of public sector employees, relying solely on data of a third-party, was needless, lazy, harsh and something else I wouldn’t want to put out here.

I have always referred to this recent move and approach to cleaning the payroll as “easy approach to problem solving”. You don’t solve a problem by scratching the surface; you deal with it from the root! If you care to know, the real “ghosts” you intended taking out of the payroll are out there, conniving with Directors and other Heads of government institutions robbing this country of unearned salaries, at the expense of poor diligent workers.

Recently, the Youth Employment Agency [YEA], upon suspecting that their payroll might have been bloated, came down to Districts and sub districts, conducted headcounts and had real “ghosts” deleted from their payroll. It makes a lot of sense! What stops government from taking similar step? What happened to the Controller and Accountant General’s Biometric data collected on public sector employees some time ago?

To Whom It May Concern, you may have to vacate your air-conditioned office and come to the ground to see how some District Directors and so called IPPD/CAGD coordinators in various Districts are taking advantage of the mess you caused.

You have no clue how some of these officials at the district level are taking undue advantage of the situation to engage in corrupt practices……charging unapproved fees from poor employees, all in an attempt to get their names reinstated on government payroll. Quoting from one District IPPD/CAGD coordinator: “…..if you don’t pay the GHC 50, your document will lie here and get rotten…….if you are not willing to pay, take your document to Accra”.

In an attempt to take refuge in the District Director, he said: “…yes, we are charging those monies to enable the IPPD/CAGD coordinator take the documents to Accra, because GOG does not come”. Rot!!

We have always perceived the politician as being corrupt [which in most cases are true], but I can tell you that most heads of institutions and small offices in the public sector are more corrupt. The level of confidence they exhibit in their open corrupt acts beats my imagination. It’s fast becoming normal and institutionalized, such that when you are different and question these corrupt acts, you are victimized, labeled and suffer all kinds of abuse.

As for the position of the various labour unions on this matter, the least said about them the better.

I’m wondering if whoever thought of cleaning the payroll using data from a third-party is aware of some of these corrupt practices on the ground.

Thousands of existing public sector workers are still battling to get their names reinstated. These are employees who have families and several mouths to take care of. Has it now become a crime to serve your country in return for something to sustain you and your family? You don’t treat your employee like a trash and expect something else in return.

Until we stop the lazy and comfort zone approach to solving problems, trust me, we are mere jokers in a business of developing this country.