You entrust officials with $1m but pay them $400 – former Head of Civil Service slams salary structure

Former Head of the Civil Service, Dr Alex Glover-Quartey, has called for better remuneration for senior public servants, arguing that government cannot expect officials entrusted with millions of dollars in public funds to maintain high standards of integrity while paying them what he describes as inadequate salaries. He said the remuneration of Chief Directors and other senior officials should reflect the scale of their responsibilities, warning that poor pay could create conditions that make corruption and abuse of office more difficult to contain.

Dr Glover-Quartey made the remarks in an interview with Kafui Dey, during which he recounted efforts he made while heading the Civil Service to secure improved salaries for officials. He said one of his first engagements in the position was a meeting with representatives of the World Bank and a group from the United Kingdom, whom he sought to persuade to support a monthly salary of about US$2,500 for Chief Directors.

He recalled that the proposal initially surprised the representatives, but he questioned the logic of entrusting a senior official with the management of more than US$1 million while paying that person about US$400 a month. “I was trying to convince them to pay salaries that were ahead of, I said, roughly $2,500 a month to chief directors. And they looked shocked,” he said.

“And I said, look, you are giving the chief director of a ministry over a million dollars to manage, and you are paying him $400 a month. Is it wisdom? Well, they saw it.” Pay must reflect responsibility Dr Glover-Quartey said Ghana could not continue to offer what he described as paltry salaries to civil servants and still expect them to manage substantial public resources without being exposed to the temptation of misappropriation.

He argued that government must first address the remuneration gap if it expects greater accountability and responsible stewardship from public officials. “You cannot continue to pay the pittance that we pay to our civil servants and expect them to manage such huge amounts and not touch them,” he said. He advocated a compensation system that gave senior public servants sufficient financial security, while expecting them to reciprocate through professionalism, discipline and responsible management of public resources.

His position places the question of public-sector remuneration at the centre of the broader debate about corruption, institutional performance and accountability in Ghana’s public administration. Rethink allowances and benefits The former Civil Service head also questioned the practice of providing senior officials with extensive utility benefits and other perks when their salaries were not considered adequate.

He suggested that government could review arrangements under which public servants receive support for electricity, water and telephone bills, arguing that some of the benefits could be abused. “Stop paying the electricity bills, water bills, telephone bills. In some cases, when you pay, you have free telephone calls and so on; people abuse them,” he said.

Ghana’s public service remuneration is administered under the Single Spine Salary Structure, which is intended to promote equity and transparency through a harmonised system of pay and allowances. The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission is responsible for determining and managing salaries for public servants whose pay is drawn from the Consolidated Fund.

The policy also provides for standardised allowances, market premiums for scarce skills and performance management. Dr Glover-Quartey, who served as Head of the Civil Service from 2003 to 2006, has previously called for better treatment and improved working conditions for public servants, arguing that the quality of public service delivery depends partly on how the people responsible for implementing government policies are supported.

His latest comments renew the debate over whether Ghana’s public-sector pay arrangements adequately reflect the responsibilities of senior officials and what reforms are needed to strengthen integrity and efficiency in public administration.