‘Minimum wage in Ghana too low, workers deserve more’ – Bokpin

An economist and Professor of Finance, Godfred Bokpin, has said Ghana’s current minimum wage for public sector workers is nothing to write home about, arguing that workers deserve more than what they are getting.

In his view, the current wage is nowhere near what workers are supposed to receive.

Ghana’s daily minimum wage was revised with effect from January 1st, 2022, from GH¢12.53 to GH¢13.53.

But Prof. Bokpin believes the amount is woefully inadequate.

“Our minimum wage is nowhere near minimum at all. The workers deserve more than this. Perhaps when we are going for negotiations we should go with data for comparison,” he said.

He made the remark during the Ghana National Association of Teachers’ (GNAT) Investment Forum held at the University of Ghana on Wednesday, June 29, 2022.

Regarding investments by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), he noted that the investments have been running in the negatives over the past periods.

He therefore urged the management of SSNIT to scale up their efforts in that area.

“The returns of the investments have been negative and this is where I believe SSNIT should up their game,” he said.

He added that “In terms of pensions coverage, we are not doing badly at all.”

The Director of the SSNIT, Dr. John Ofori-Tenkorang, however, refuted the claim that their investments are running into the negatives.

He rather stated that SSNIT is the best form of pension scheme any worker can get.

“The SSNIT scheme is the best that you can ever get anywhere else as far as pensions is concerned, if you don’t join to contribute you are harming yourself,” he said.