Most workers do not use their salaries – Prof. Mike Oquaye

A former Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, has bemoaned the lack of living wage policies in the country especially for salaried workers.

According to him, the government’s fight against corruption may become difficult as most workers do not live on their current salaries.

Speaking during the launch of the Professor Mike Oquaye Centre for Constitutional Studies at the Institute of Economic Affairs, Prof. Oquaye called for enhanced programs that would see to the computerization of all aspects of administration.

“The e-governance program which should cover the computerization of all aspects of administration should be brought to a logical conclusion. Customs, fraud persist because duties are partly veiled in allegory. When Dr. Busia sent passport forms to post offices to be sold there, attendant corruption relating to passport forms ceased.

“Time frames should be set for all public duties and penalties prescribed for non-compliance. Our contorted bureaucratic procedures create room for corruption, where public duties cannot be discharged timeously, through well-laid procedures, the public servant adopts the tactic of go-come, go-come, come tomorrow, come tomorrow, till money changes hands,” he explained.

He further called for living wage policies to be implemented in order to curb the incidents of corruption in the country.

“Steal fines and penalties should be promulgated to deal with the offences that we know so well of. Living wage policies should be pursued and it’s rather funny to speak of corruption in a nation where most workers do not live on their wages, and this is well-known. Ask all officials in the ministries and elsewhere, ‘So, what do you live on?’ Nobody knows what he lives on.

“A study done by the African Public Policy Institute in 2014, led by this writer, showed that some 90% of respondents boldly stated that no one lives on his or her pay in Ghana. This is an ostrich approach which will never solve any problem,” Prof. Oquaye added.