Member of Parliament for Assin South and former Deputy Education Minister, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour
Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, Member of Parliament for Assin South and former Deputy Minister of Education, has sharply criticized Seth Terkper, a senior presidential advisor on the economy, over his defence of the government’s recent 10% salary increase for public sector workers.
The clash erupted following Terkper’s attempt to rationalize the controversial pay rise in a post on X, where he tied wage increases to inflation trends.
In his X post, Seth Terkper argued, “When inflation rises to a high 50% plus, a 20% plus wage rise is inevitable. When you ‘half’ inflation to about 20% plus & claim to have stabilised the economy for JM, it is not consistent to rubbish a 10% raise WITH A PROMISE.”
The statement was intended to bolster President John Dramani Mahama’s administration amid backlash over the adequacy of the salary hike.
However, Ntim Fordjour swiftly dismissed Seth Terkper’s reasoning, calling it inaccurate and deceptive. In a direct rebuttal on X, he countered.
“By your misconceived analysis of pay rise equating to half of inflation, in 2023, workers would have been given a paltry 15% by JM (around half of 38.11% inflation recorded) instead of the whopping 30% pay hikes workers enjoyed under Akufo-Addo,” he stated.
He also corrected Seth Terkper’s inflated claim, noting that 2023’s inflation rate was 38.11%, not the “50% plus” Seth Terkper had suggested.
John Ntim Fordjour went further, contrasting the wage policies of the erstwhile New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration under Nana Akufo-Addo with Mahama’s 10% hike.
He highlighted that in 2024, despite an inflation rate of 23.8%, public sector workers received a 23% salary boost from January to June, followed by a 25% increase from July to December. Applying Terkper’s logic, the MP argued, “JDMahama would have thought workers deserved only 12% (half of what NPP offered). Workers deserve better than the paltry 10% JM gave them,” he stated.
In an earlier post which attracted Seth Terkper’s comment, the Member of Parliament for Assin South had questioned the apparent inconsistency in organized labour’s decision to agree to a 10% salary increment after negotiations with the government.
In a post on X on Thursday, February 20, 2025, the MP highlighted a stark contrast in labour’s responses to salary hikes offered by former President Nana Akufo-Addo and current President John Dramani Mahama, accusing some unions of pursuing a “stomach agenda” driven by political bias.
His post, which included a chart detailing salary increments under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) from 2017 to 2024, pointed out that in 2024, Akufo-Addo’s government offered public sector workers a 25% salary increment. However, this move was met with fierce opposition, including threats of strike action from organized labour, who deemed the increase insufficient amid economic hardships.
In contrast, Ntim Fordjour noted, President Mahama’s recent announcement of a 10% salary increase for public sector workers, effective March 1, 2025, has been warmly received by a section of organized labour, with some unions even defending the modest hike as “reasonably acceptable.”
BAI/KA
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