Is it a priority raising US$28 million loan to purchase cars for Members of Parliament?

Are the nation’s leaders getting their priorities right? Do they actually solve the nation’s problems, or acquire the needs of the people, following the economic scale of preference or they just do things whimsically haphazardly?

Is it not almost in Ghana that the government has saddled itself with borrowing and guaranteeing, to purchase cars for the Members of Parliament with soft loans every four years? Again, is it not in Ghana that government pays each MP a whopping sum of money in ex-gratia and an upfront payment of fifty thousand Cedis (GH¢50,000) in housing benefits every four-year parliamentary term?

I know, the fact the nation lacks in many things and has to borrow to meet most of her basic needs does not mean we cannot for once afford to enjoy a luxury life?

However, in this critical period of COVID-19 devastating the world economies with many people losing their jobs and people dying in their numbers, is it right to pump so much money into buying the nation’s MPs, most of whom are purely saboteurs and misfits, V-8 SUV cars of up to about US$100,000 a car?

I am certain Ghana has not been able to purchase enough Covid-19 vaccines to vaccinate the citizens against COVID-19 infection. The leaders are as usual looking up to the world donors, the rich Whiteman’s countries and the World Health Organization (WHO) to either give them loans or grants to afford the purchase of vaccines for the people or to supply them with free vaccines. Right?

For how long shall we continue to be disgraceful beggars but with an appetite to live affluent lives far and beyond our means?

In the civilized Whiteman’s land where they generate their own riches without relying on others for handouts and support as does Ghana, the government does not buy cars for their MPs. Each MP buys their own car.

The government does not serve as a guarantor for an MP to secure a car loan from a bank or a financial lending agency. There is no special ex-gratia paid to MPs every four years in the advanced countries, unlike in Ghana, a comparatively poor country, made so by mismanagement and official corruption.

In the United Kingdom where statistics show that as of 6 July 2021, 45,601,445 (68%) of the population had at least received one dose of COVID-19 jab with 34,198,779 (51.3%) out of the total fully vaccinated, thus, receiving two doses.

Just listen to the following narrative that goes to make the Whiteman intelligent, serious, farsighted and so sweet.

For about the past two months, PCR (swab) packs are supplied free of charge to people at work, some pharmacies and centres. Again, some Antigen kits are being supplied free of charge at COVID-19 vaccination centres, shopping malls and schools. When I went to have my second jab in June 2021, I was given one Antigen pack of seven kits.

Barely three days later, I was given four when I went to pick my grandson from school. And, yesterday, Thursday, 8 July 2021, I was given four when I went shopping at a shopping mall. At workplace, the employer is supplying us with a pack of PCR which contains ten kits every five weeks.

“Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a method widely used to rapidly make millions to billions of copies (complete copies or partial copies) of a specific DNA sample, allowing scientists to take a very small sample of DNA and amplify it (or a part of it) to a large enough amount to study in detail”

This goes to tell how serious the government is to fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. The British government like any other in the developed world is redirecting maximum resources and efforts into ridding the nation of the COVID-19 infection.

It will use her money to buy free home Covid-19 test kits for the citizens than to use them to purchase expensive cars for Members of Parliament or public servants.

The PCR test gives you results in 15 to 30 minutes to tell you are presently affected by COVID-19 virus or not. This is the nose and throat swab test. The antigen test tells whether or not you have built antibodies against Covid-19 infection following infection you have had or the vaccination had.

Ghana has a difficulty procuring COVID-19 vaccines yet, it has got money to spend on buying expensive cars for MPs. What a MISPLACED PRIORITY!

If anything at all, why not buy the cars from Kantanka, the Ghanaian car manufacturing company? Why don’t we patronise Ghana-made, and to be precise, Ghanaian-made, products, to acquire the nation and Africa the technology we lack that has subsequently made us poor and disrespected in the eyes of our contemporary whites? Are we that myopic and stupid as a people? Yes ooo!

Let our leaders get the nation’s priorities right! At this juncture, I am against spending that much money on purchasing V-8 cars for the MPs but rather be spent on procuring vaccines to fight the COVID-19 infections. If it is so essential to buy the cars as against vaccines, please buy from Kantanka motors.

By this expressed candid opinion of mine, I see myself as a citizen but not a spectator.