A former United Nations (UN) senior governance advisor, Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah has advised the government to desist from the opulence lifestyle to help in addressing the current economic challenges.
As a result of the economic challenges facing the country, the government is exploring ways including salary cuts as one of the avenues to tackle the woes.
Speaking to Asaase Radio on Thursday, Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah said while salary cuts could be said to be commendable, it would not be adequate.
He said instead, the government should avoid the extravagant lifestyle and show the Ghanaian people that it is ready to make good use of scarce resources in these hard times.
“As I said earlier they are not adequate. I heard that Parliament has been called upon to make the same move because it cannot be imposed on them and I have heard some discordant voices from that institution, those who said no, and those who said we may upon certain conditions, so it is going to be tough.
“But I think ultimately it depends on the government itself, that is why in addition to the salary reductions there must be other visible tangible measures that will impress on people, one of them, for instance, is simply for government to begin to avoid opulence lifestyle and be more frugal in how it serves the public,” Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah advised.
He said for starters, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo should reduce the number of cars he moves around with knowing that fuel prices in the country are now very expensive.
“And this can be seen in whether the president for instance is going to continue to move around with 40 or 50 cars. When you know that fuel prices have hit the roof and you are going to line up 40 cars just to take you to a place. So, if the president will say in view of the austerity measures I am going to use 10 cars, that will be dramatic for the public,” Prof. Agyeman-Duah noted.
