Some ministers of state yet to be paid

Some current ministers of state have not received salaries since they were sworn into office about five months ago and
the situation is attributable to the bad nature of the economy that the Mills administration inherited.
According to a Deputy Minister of Information, Mr Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa, “Since some of my colleagues and I were sworn into office as ministers and deputy ministers we have not received any salary.”
He was, however, of the strong conviction that he and his colleagues would be fully paid at the appropriate time and that the problem was the manifestation of what others in the public sector were going through.
He stated that the Mills administration was leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that the weak economic situation it took over from the previous administration was put on the right track to make the ordinary Ghanaian live a better life.
He said President Mills, in his bid to show leadership and also ensure that the national kitty was saved to cater for other pressing areas, had forgone his per diem and cut down on international travels to save a little for the economy.
He said unfortunately the bad nature of the local economy had been compounded by the global economic crunch and urged Ghanaians to exercise restraint while the Mills administration fixed the economy and added that to cushion Ghanaians against the harsh economic situation, the government had doubled the capitation grant, among other mitigating measures.
Mr Okudzeto-Ablakwa said contrary to the initial belief that the total national debt was small, the government had realised that it had exceeded $3 billion, despite the various forms of assistance the previous government received, including the cancellation of a chunk of the national debt by the international community.
He said the government was also inundated with promissory notes, letters of credit, hundreds given out during the Kufuor administration which were now maturing and court judgements ordering the current administration to pay millions of cedis to people who had executed contracts for the government.
He said the government was also at a loss as to the huge sums of taxpayers’ money wasted by the Ghana @50 Secretariat which could have been used to fix some sensitive areas of the economy to bring relief to the ordinary Ghanaian.
He said the government was again surprised at the revelation of high levels of corruption that took place at the various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies which had the propensity of stalling the development at the grass root levels.
Mr Okudzeto-Ablakwa debunked claims by the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) that the recent visit by US President Barack Obama caused the nation huge sums of money and stated that the cost that was incurred in Accra amounted to GH¢132,000.
He said the government was awaiting the figures from the Central Region, which he said would definitely be lower.
He disclosed that the provision of free school uniforms for schoolchildren in deprived communities would begin in September and that as a first step various district assemblies would open bids for the uniforms.
Regarding the naming of the demonstration by AFAG as “Atta adaadaa yen”, to wit, “Atta has deceived us”, the deputy minister described it as hypocrisy because the title meant that the organisers believed in and voted for President Mills.
He said the demonstrators could not have supported Prof Mills because they publicly campaigned for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) 2008 presidential candidate.
He expressed worry that the group would want to use the Chief Accountant of the Ministry of Sports who fictitiously came up with unsubstantiated proof that the former minister had squandered some money.
He asked how such a person could be described as a whistle blower because he refused to protect his own identity, typed what he claimed to be corrupt practices and circulated them to the press, a matter he was deeply involved.
Mr Okudzeto-Ablakwa noted that the chief accountant became a subject of investigation because after allegedly making huge payments, he refused to provide payment vouchers to cover those payments.