14 January 2009
editorial
Twenty-Four hours before leaving office as President of Ghana, ex President Kufuor announced between 16.5% and 34 % pay rise across board for all categories of workers on government pay role.
By this decision, the new government is to implement a Single Spine Salary Structure aimed at addressing inequalities in salaries of civil servants. Under the new system all employees including those from public sector institutions paid through the consolidated fund will be taken care of
The decision, which takes effect from the end of this month, means that government's wage bill is going to rise substantially. The decision taken by the ex President has been criticised by some NDC functionaries, especially Dr. Tony Aidoo, who thinks Mr. Kufuor was not fair to the incoming government. And just this week, a former Minister of Finance under the Kufuor government, Mr. Yaw Osafo Maafo has also joined the fray and criticised his former boss for announcing the new salary increment just when he was about to leave office.
Osafo Maafo admitted that the NPP government did a lot of work on the new salary structure, but since they could not implement it due to certain setbacks, the new government should have been allowed to take a decision on it. He contended that the new salary should have been incorporated into this year's budget, but since that was not done before the announcement, it was surely going to be a burden on the new administration.
The former Akim Oda MP also noted that the percentage increase is going to come with the burden of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) contributions, which are also going to increase. Earlier, Spokespersons for the Kufuor government had defended the decision of the ex President, insisting that there was nothing wrong with what he did because the Single Spine Salary Structure had been debated for a long time, before government and other stakeholders came to a conclusion on the matter, which was what the former President announced before leaving office.
The debate on the decision taken by ex President Kufuor continues unabated. The Chronicle is, however, of the opinion that before the ex President arrived at the decision, he should have taken into recognition the position of the economy and whether it could absorb such increases or not. Already, the World Bank Country Director in Ghana had painted a gloomy picture of our economy, therefore, to increase salaries to such a level without having a second look at the economy, looks a little strange to us.
The Chronicle thinks that what Mr. Kufuor and his government should have done was to have briefed the incoming government about the stage they have reached with the Single Spine Salary Structure and the need for it to be implemented. He could then have proceeded to pass on the recommendations he and his government had made to the incoming administration, regarding the new salary scale. This would have meant that if the Atta Mills government fails to implement the new salary structure, Mr. Kufuor can not be blamed because he did make all the necessary recommendations to the new administration.
The Chronicle thinks Ghanaian workers are really underpaid, therefore any pay rise should be good news to all, but as we stated earlier the new administration should have been allowed to take that decision. The fact that Mr. Maafo, a renowned Economist and a leading member of the NPP has come out to objectively criticise the decision means that there was something wrong with the ex President's decision. It is the hope of The Chronicle that this mishap would be a lesson for all future governments, to avoid imposing certain obligations on new governments when they are about to leave office.
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