I still don’t understand why Akufo-Addo hasn’t reduced the size of his gov’t yet – Franklin Cudjoe

The season of coronavirus has generated lots of controversies between governments and citizens across all countries that have been hard hit on the globe and Ghana does not seem to be any different from others.

Over the period of the outbreak, the United States government has given a number of stimulus packages in different forms to American citizens which most Ghanaians seek from the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo led government.

Just last week, the president fulfilled his promise of giving out incentives totalling some GH¢1 billion in the form of soft loans to Small and Medium Scale business (SMEs) that have been affected by the coronavirus outbreak should such businesses meet government’s borrowing criteria under the National Board of Small Scale Industries (NBSSI).

In the wake of the same week of goodies, some former members of parliament (article 70 officeholders) under former president Jerry John Rawlings and John Agyekum Kuffour’s administrations between 1997 to 2002 begun demanding some monies they claimed to be owed by the government over the period since they are finding it difficult to cope with the high cost of living aroused by the pandemic.

According to the founding president of IMANI Africa, a renowned think tank giant in education and policy making in Africa and beyond, Mr. Franklin Cudjoe, thought the season has brought some form of difficulties upon everyone all over the country, its hard to believe that same disease can generate wet dreams among people to wish for the impossible.

In a submission he made, Mr. Cudjoe says, it is unfair having president Akufo-Addo still maintaining the size of his governments in this difficult times which has led to former government appointees demanding for monies they almost forgot about and even demanding for them with interests spanned over the period such monies stayed with the government

Read Mr. Franklin Cudjoe’s full text here:

“I had plans, many travel and conference speaking plans that would have generated income for me. Covid-19 killed them. I have adjusted my dwindled finances to live with covid. I still do not understand why our President hasn’t reduced the size of his government. There are so many of his aides and appointees we haven’t missed at all since covid visited us. Sadly his inertia has emboldened former government appointees and even DCEs who worked under Rawlings and Kufuor- 1997-2001 to claim they were owed money. Aside the illegitimate GHS 29m some former government officials believe they are owed, the DCEs in question want their so called due calculated pro rata 91-day treasury bill rates. So in essence, assuming a DCE was even illegally owed say GHS 3000 as far back as 2001, he is dreaming of GHS 60,000 cooleee. I knew the pandemic brought in its wake, psychological discomfort, but I had little understanding it could also induce wet dreams and games of chance. But everything is possible with all governments- which is my favourite satirist, P. J. O’rourke always says- giving money to governments is like granting car keys and whiskey to teenagers. I just do not get it. Anyways, I will be listening to Muslim pop songs in cheers to Eid. Good night folks.”– Franklin Cudjoe