President of policy think tank IMANI Ghana, Mr. Franklin Cudjoe, has revealed that close to
GHS6 billion out of the budgeted GHS14 billion spent by the government in paying civil servants was squandered on worthless allowances.
Speaking on Joy FM, on the issue of upward salary adjustment for Article 71 office holders including the president, Mr. Cudjoe said even though the upward adjustment was not astronomical and outrageous when juxtaposed with the past adjustment, Article 71 office holders were still receiving, three times more than the $1,340 annual per capita income of the average Ghanaian every month.
“I understand that there are perks with every office that people should enjoy but if you add this to the fact that allowances within the public sector [are high] – the civil servant, from the middle level all the way to the top level; cumulatively with Article 71 holders allowances alone, I think it’s about GHS6billion. That’s almost 70 percent of the entire wage bill in 2016,†he lamented.
He recommended that, allowances for the public sector be merged and specific number of times for meeting annually should clearly outlined in order to save about GHS4billion of the wastage.
He added that, for allowances sake, chief directors and administrators of the public sector consciously schedule needless meetings for every year to top-up their salaries.