John Agyekum Kufuor, the former President of Ghana, has said that poor pay remuneration within the public sector is fueling corruption.
According to John Agyekum Kufuor, policymakers need to confront the issue by overhauling public sector remuneration in Ghana.
John Agyekum Kufuor highlighted that Ghana’s current salary structure for civil servants and political office creates conditions where corruption can become a coping mechanism.
He stressed that improving governance requires paying public servants competitively, adding that there is a need for strict enforcement against persons who engage in corrupt practices.
Speaking in an interview with JoyNews, John Agyekum Kufuor stated, “We are in the era of science and technology. Science keeps researching and refining things, and people who tend to be bright, not all of them will use their brilliance for fair and good purposes. So, sophistication is really deepening corrupt practices.
People will still try to get away with their smartness. A poor remuneration system, which our society somehow finds shy in tackling, is one of the sources of corruption, given our situation,” he said.
In related news, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, the Convener of the Democracy Hub activist and lawyer, has announced plans to drag the John Mahama-led government to court over alleged crooked public sector recruitments.
The lawyer and activist highlighted that over the past few months, many people have been hired into the public sector to quietly fill roles without any advertisement of the positions.
According to Oliver Barker-Vormawor, Public sector employment cannot operate like a private favour system, adding that government jobs are paid for by the public purse and must be open to the public.
In an X post shared on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, Oliver Barker-Vormawor wrote, “Democracy Hub is considering a lawsuit against the Government over what appears to be a long entrenched practice of non-competitive recruitment across several Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
Over the past few months, consistent with historical practices, it has become increasingly clear that many people are being hired into public sector roles that were never advertised. Positions are filled quietly, sometimes after the fact, with no public notice, no opportunity for qualified people to apply, and no explanation of the criteria used in selecting those appointed”.
Oliver Barker-Vormawor further added, “Public sector employment cannot operate like a private favour system. Jobs in government are paid for by the public purse and must be open to the public. The absence of advertisement and competitive recruitment raises serious questions about fairness, transparency, and whether equal opportunity in access to public service is being respected.
Beyond the fairness issue, this also affects the quality of governance. When recruitment becomes opaque, institutions slowly lose credibility and competence. Young professionals who want to contribute to public service are shut out before they even know opportunities exist, while networks of patronage quietly take root.
The purpose of the proposed litigation would be simple: to force a clarification of the rules governing public sector recruitment and to insist that government employment follows transparent, competitive procedures consistent with constitutional principles of fairness and administrative justice”.