Speaker's ?140m state-sponsored "medical" leave

OSAFO-MAAFO CAUGHT IN ANOTHER LIE!

FINANCE Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo is fast establishing himself as “Master of the Lie” for his penchant for telling the most blatant of lies.

In seeking to justify the US$15,000 or ?140 million that he unilaterally approved for the Speaker of Parliament The Right Honourable Peter Ala Adjetey, to go on leave in Dublin, Republic of Ireland after the President had declined to approve same, citing jurisdictional reasons, Mr. Osafo-Maafo described the amount as “reasonable” explaining that although the Speaker would be on holidays, he would attend hospital to treat himself based on his previous sickness.

The Minister also admonished that “certain privileges are attached to some positions in government. People should be careful about the kind of utterances they make about public officials in government”.

The Finance Minister’s defence followed the incredulous exposure by the ‘Network Herald’ that Mr. Peter Adjetey had taken his annual leave to cool off in Dublin for two weeks, for which an amount of US$15,000 or ?140,394,048.34 to cover his expenses had been approved for him.

Mr. Osafo-Maafo’s defence, according to officials of the Ministry of Finance, is complete hogwash, being put out only in an effort to contain the furore generated over the Speaker’s leave and the amount approved for him, given that an amount of US$69,000 or ?586 million was only recently expended on him for treatment of his medical condition in London. Before then, the following amounts had also been expended on Mr. Peter Ala Adjetey:

(i) Mercedes Benz E-Class (rejected and I Parliamentary pool), for US$70,000 or ?595 million;
(ii) Mercedes Benz S-Class (official saloon car) for US$90,000 or ?765 million;
(iii) Renovation of official bungalow (allegedly not occupied by him) for ?600 million;
(iv) Rehabilitation, Refurbishment and Refurnishing of Speaker’s Office in Parliament House for ?450 million;
(v) New ceremonial robe for ?15 million.

These were all in addition to the routine state expenditure on his salaries, allowances, fuel, accommodation, cooks, garden boys, stewards, electricity, water, telephone, local medical care, etc.

According to the Ministry officials who were visibly outraged by what they called the profligacy of the NPP Government, their Minister’s lie arises out of the following improprieties with the Speaker’s request and the Minister’s approval:

(1) The Speaker and all Honourable MPs go on long adjournments three times per session of one year. Like teachers’ vacations, these adjournments are the equivalent of leave in other public sector organizations;
(ii) The Speaker’s conditions of service do not include paid leave;
(iii) For this reason, no provision is made in the Budget for the Speaker’s leave, hence the Minister’s instructions in his approval letter that the amount should be charged to the Contingency Vote, which means that it was an expenditure that was not anticipated. A copy of Mr. Osafo-Maafo’s approval letter is reproduced elsewhere in this paper, courtesy of the ‘Network Herald’ newspaper
(iv) The President’s refusal to approve the request was an implied acknowledgement of some impropriety with the request;
(v) There is nothing in all the correspondence connected with the request for leave which Ghana Palaver has sighted that the Speaker “would attend hospital to treat himself based on his previous illness”. Clearly, this was Osafo-Maafo’s invention and an afterthought; an ex post rationalization of a clearly illegal and unjustifiable action;
(vi) The precedent set by the Speaker and the Minister of Finance throws into focus the issue of leave and leave entitlements for all other Parliamentary office holders as well as the Honourable MPs themselves;
(vii) The precedent also makes a case for all teachers in Ghana for leave entitlements in addition to their school vacations.

But perhaps what is most hypocritical and immoral about the Minister’s defence, according to some political pundits that Ghana Palaver spoke to, is his admonition that “certain privileges are attached to some positions in government. People should therefore be careful about the kind of utterances they make about public officials in government”.

The pundits recollected that in October 2000, the then NPP Minority Parliamentary Caucus of which Yaw Osafo-Maafo was a member held a Press Conference which was addressed by today’s Minister for Private Sector Development Kwamena Bartels. Present at the Press Conference were today’s Foreign Minister Nana Akufo-Addo, today’s Tourism and Modernisation of the Capital City Minister Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, and NPP General Secretary Dan Botwe.

Among other things, the NPP Parliamentary Caucus stated as follows: “These days, if you are an NDC man or woman and you have a headache, you will be sent abroad for treatment”.

You don’t have to be President – all you need is an NDC card”.

The NPP Parliamentary Caucus then proceeded to criticize the following overseas medical treatment cases:

(i) Kofi Ashiboe-Mensah (CPP, ex-PNDC Secretary for Trade) - ?5,000
(ii) Ferdinand Asante Adjei (Broadcaster_ - ?3,153.75
(iii) Ms. Sarah Kuntu-Atta (DCE for Upper Denkyira, since deceased) - $4,780 for 2 economy return tickets to the USA
(iv) Mrs. Barbara Fynn-Williams - ?17,038.96.

The NPP Parliamentary Caucus Press Statement continued:

The frequency with which those who are close to the corridors of power are sent overseas obscures the necessity for Government to focus on improving facilities in our local hospitals and paying our doctors and nurses well so that our people will quite happily opt to be treated in Ghanaian hospitals instead of in London or New York”.

According to the political pundits, the NPP felt so strongly about the matter that the Party made it part of its 2000 Election Manifesto. At Page 32, Paragraph 3.5.6.0 of its Manifesto, ‘Agenda for Change’, the NPP stated as follows”

“The incoming NPP Government will abolish this practice of overseas treatment of top Government officials. Currently, the budget provided for this type of treatment is shrouded in secrecy, and so also is the method of selection of patients and the type of diseases treated abroad. NPP Government will rather put emphasis on improving health facilities in Ghana so that overseas treatment at public expense can be curtailed”.

In stark contrast to the above, the NPP Government has, since coming into power, flown the following persons abroad for medical treatment at the expense of the Ghanaian taxpayer, and these represent only those that have leaked into the public domain:

(i) Professor Adu-Boahen – Private Citizen and 1992 NPP Presidential candidate (UK);
(ii) Mr. Peter Ala Adjetey – Speaker of Parliament and former NPP National Chairman (USA);
(iii) Justice Edward K. Wiredu – former Chief Justice and father of child of Mrs. Theresa Kufuor’s youngest sister (UK);
(iv) Hajia Ramatu Mahama – Wife of Vice President Aliu Mahama (UK);
(v) Daavi Ama of Dimples Junction and HIPC Junction – NPP activist and loyalist, member of the NPP’s National Media Commission and former Presidential consort (UK and South Africa);
(vi) Mr. Peter Ala Adjetey (again), Holiday and Health (Republic of Ireland).

Editor’s Note: Ghana Palaver gladly welcomes any information of other top Government cronies who have benefited from overseas medical treatment at the expense of the state. This appeal goes especially to patriotic Ghanaians in the civil and public services who are in a position to know. After all, according to the NPP itself, “The people of this country deserve to know”.