FWSC dismisses Akoto Osei’s suggestion over SSSS

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) George Smith-Graham has rejected a suggestion that the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP) should be scrapped.

The suggestion is reported to have been made on Tuesday, March 11 by a Former Minister of State in Charge of Finance, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, though he has since denied making the suggestion.

What is, however, sure to be reported is that Dr Akoto Osei called for a 20 per cent retrenchment of ministries.

“If I were a president, I will signal that every ministry should show me 20 per cent of retrenchment in 2015 and 2016. You cannot pay all that you are owing. Revenue doesn’t exist,” he said during a Breakfast Meeting on Ghana's economy organised by the Daily Graphic and Fidelity Bank.

But Mr Smith-Graham says critics of the Policy should be cautious in some of the suggestions they put forward.

“I am saying reducing the public sector work force by 20 per cent will not necessarily reduce the wage bill, but when you reduce those numbers, you will be forced to ensure that there is efficiency in the public service; you will be forced to bring on board other highly skilled people who can fill that vacuum,” he told TV3’s Daniel Opoku on Wednesday.

He expressed doubts about any studies behind Dr Akoto Osei’s suggestions.

“I am not sure what studies he has done. We all need to sit down as a country and look at what really is the problem,” he noted.