10% rise in minimum wage inadequate – Some Ghanaians bemoan

Some Ghanaians have expressed disappointment over the announcement of a slight increase in the daily national minimum wage for 2023.

The 2023 National Daily Minimum Wage was increased by 10 percent to GH¢14.88 from the GH¢12.53 in line with Section 113 (1)(a) of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), and comes after negotiations were concluded by the National Tripartite Committee (NTC) at its meeting held on Wednesday, November 16, 2022.

Scores of Ghanaian workers Citi News spoke to complained that they had expected something substantial and not the meagre GH¢2.35 that had been added to next year’s minimum wage.

Joseph Larbi, a taxi driver who drives on the streets of Accra, said he earns way below the National Minimum Wage. He said his daily wage is GH¢10.75 which translates into GH¢160 a month.

In spite of the Labour Ministry’s directive to establishments, institutions, and organizations to adjust their wages accordingly, Joseph Larbi said he has been on a GH¢160 monthly wage for the last decade.

The father of one lamented the rise in fuel prices, accommodation, and utilities and said life has been tough for his wife and child.

A private security guard who also earns below the National Minimum Wage said he has resorted to a bicycle to aid him to commute to his 7-day-a-week job.

Having no idea what a national minimum wage is, Yaw Twumasi Ankrah said it is difficult to come across any private security personnel that is paid beyond GH¢600 and that security guards are one of the worst-hit demographics of the current economic crisis.

He lamented the sufferings and difficulties he has to go through to cater for his family of five children and a wife with his GH¢450 monthly wage.

The challenges confronting the majority of respondents are uniform, ranging from high transport fares to astronomical rises in utility fees.

Emmanuel Atingani, an SHS graduate who is a shop attendant at Adabraka, a suburb of Accra, fears his dream of returning to school to continue his studies is currently bleak because there is barely anything left of his monthly wage to save to prepare him for the future.