A cross section of formal and informal sector workers in Techiman, Techiman South Municipality of Bono East Region have appealed to the government to raise the daily minimum wage beyond the GhC14.88 from the current GhC13.53.
According to them, the increment which is due to take effect from January 2023 is not realistic because of the sharp increases in prices of goods and services.
Speaking in a random public interview with the Ghana News Agency in reaction to the government’s recent announcement about the wages increment on Friday, several of them who spoke on condition of anonymity argued that “the increment did not translate well to meet the current inflationary figures of the country..”
Mr. Solomon Awini, a general merchant at the Techiman Central Market bemoaned that there had been poor patronage of goods nowadays and attributed the situation to the “no-money syndrome” by workers.
Mr. Awini therefore pleaded with government to consider the proposed 60 per cent increment on the 2022 base pay by organised labour such as the teacher unions and the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association to “cushion workers a bit”.
Other interviewees including civil servants, traders and transport operators told the GNA that the increment would not make any impact on the lives of the ordinary Ghanaian, saying the way to improve their socio-economic lives “is for government to continue to reduce the prices of petroleum products” for reduction of transport fares.
