Economic Policy Analyst, Senyo Hosi, has commended President John Dramani Mahama for intervening in the base pay negotiation which allowed labour to accept the 10 per cent increment.
He says that the President’s demeanour shows he wants to leave a legacy
“We haven’t seen this type of humility from a President for a long time. President Mahama’s demeanor clearly shows he wants to leave a legacy,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 on Saturday, February 22.
For his part, the CEO of Ghana’s Shippers Authority, Professor Ransford Gyampo told all appointees of the Mahama administration to demonstrate modesty in their lifestyle as labour accepts the paltry 10 per cent salary increment.
He says that it will be unacceptable for the appointees to live an opulent lifestyle while they tell workers to tighten their belts.
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“As labour accepts the paltry increment of 10 let us demonstrate modesty, let us show that times are hard and we should all then tighten our belt, let us all demonstrate that times are truly hard,” he also said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, February 22.
Prof Gyampo who is also the President of the University of Ghana Chapter of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) who was vocal in criticising the previous Akufo-Addo administration for doing little for labour added “Clearly, this [10% increment] is not good enough, it is small. The last we had 23 per cent, then increased to 25. I was expecting something more but if times are difficult and this gets explained properly to labour, and the president himself coming there, then what will you do?”
“I know that my people are not too happy but I know they were magnanimous in accepting because of the president appearing before the negotiation team,” he added.
President John Dramani Mahama had assured organised labour that the government would not engage in wasteful spending.
He says the government is tightening its belt as it seeks to rebuild the economy.
Mr Mahama said this after revealing that the economy was criminally handled by the previous NPP administration.
He said he couldn’t understand how the previous government “was so reckless” in the handling of the economy.
Speaking to organised labour in Accra on Thursday, February 20, he said “Comrades, we know we are your natural allies, we have worked together for many years.
“One thing that is a cardinal principle for us is to tell the truth at all times, we all knew that the economy was in crisis but some of the things I am discovering myself, have been a criminal handling of our economy, Ghana is a crime scene because how a government can be so reckless I can’t understand it.
“But we are faced with a reality, our options are very few, we can behave like the ostriches and hide our heads in the sand and let the economy crash but then what effect will it have on Ghanaian households and everybody? So I have told the Finance Minister to cut expenditure as much as he likes, even we ourselves in government machinery, cut as much of our budget as you like because we all must make those sacrifices. A certain distrust for the political class has arisen because it is like when everybody else is tightening their belt, the political class is loosening itself. I want to assure you that we are all going to tighten our belts. and there will be no wasteful expenditure.”
He added “I will just appeal to you that let us tamper our demands for this year, once we get out of the woods, we have set targets to bring inflation down, and we have set targets to grow the economy to make things better, when the cake is big and is big ger we will share it bigger.
“We are proposing an independent emoluments committee that will set the incomes for everybody from the president to ordinary labourer.”
Mr Mahama’s meeting with Labour came at a time when his government approved a 10% salary increase for public sector workers.
Payment of the increment will begin from January 1 this year.
Labour agreed to the 10% raise after President John Mahama engaged with them and appealed for their acceptance.
The last salary increase for public sector workers in Ghana was in 2024 when the government approved a 23% raise to adjust for the cost of living and economic conditions.
Announcing the decision in Accra on Thursday, February 20, The Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo said ” there has been an increase in the national daily minimum wage by 10 per cent over the 2024 National Daily Minimum Wage which translates into a new national daily minimum wage of 19.97 Cedis.
“The effective date for the implementation of the 2025 minimum wage shall be the first of March 2025, all establishments, institutions or organisations whose daily minimum wages are below the new wage should adjust accordingly.”
