Private legal practitioner, Martin Luther Kpebu, has said government has no business constructing roads and putting up other infrastructure when its population is hungry.
The lawyer says providing food for the people should be the priority of the government before other things come to play.
His assertion, he says, stems from the constitution which he says mandates the government of the day to ensure the population is fed before thinking of other things.
Mr. Kpebu has maintained that the appointment of numerous ministers with the incentives that come with it, coupled with the luxurious lifestyle of the president such as hiring an expensive private jet whilst its people are hungry, is an affront to the constitution.
Quoting Article 36 of the 1992 Constitution, Mr. Kpebu indicated that as long as the government has not fulfilled that aspect of the law to the satisfaction of the entire citizenry, it has no business indulging in other things.
Article 36 of the Constitution as he quoted, says that: “The State shall take all necessary action to ensure that the national economy is managed in such a manner as to maximize the rate of economic development and to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every person in Ghana and to provide adequate means of livelihood and suitable employment and public assistance to the needy.”
Speaking on the cost of living crisis on TV3’s KeyPoints Saturday, July 20, 2024, Lawyer Kpebu stated that “as long as 10 per cent of our population can’t find food to eat, government has failed. You have no business in building more roads when you can’t feed the people. You have no business buying V8s, bathing in the sky, undertaking other things that are not relevant when you haven’t fed the people. You have no business having a government of 86 ministers with V8s, so much for them, entertainment etc, when 10 per cent of your population can’t find food.”
His comments follow the Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey issued by the Ghana Statistical Service which says “about 1.9 million youth aged between 15 and 35 years are; not educated, unemployed, or having any form of education in the third quarter of 2023.”
