Labour Minister Seeks Support from SOEs for Independent Public Emoluments Commission

The Minister for Labour, Jobs and Employment, Mr Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum, has urged State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to support the proposed establishment of the Independent Public Emoluments Commission (IPEC) and contribute their expertise to developing Ghana’s new public sector remuneration system.

He said the proposed transition from the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to IPEC was a government reform priority that required active stakeholder participation to ensure the new system met Ghana’s needs.

Mr Agyekum made the call at a stakeholder engagement organised by the FWSC with Chief Executives of SOEs as part of consultations on the proposed transition to IPEC.

The Minister said Government was committed to developing a remuneration system that would enable public institutions and SOEs to attract and retain the talent needed to improve their operations.

He said the proposed commission was not intended to take away the powers of SOE boards or existing institutions, but to provide a new framework for managing public sector compensation.

Mr Agyekum therefore urged SOEs to bring forward their concerns, research, expertise and practical experiences to help shape the proposed system.

“This is not coming to take your powers. We want you to support, we want you to contribute, we want you to give any other input that will be able to help us to bring in something new. Let it be the best system,” he said.

He said Ghana should develop a remuneration framework suited to its own circumstances rather than simply adopting models from other countries.

“We are not just lifting something from the UK or lifting something from another country and putting it here,” he said.

The Minister said the proposed transition would follow the appropriate legal and constitutional processes and assured stakeholders of the support of the President and Cabinet for the reform.

He encouraged SOEs and other stakeholders to openly raise their concerns and offer constructive suggestions to improve the proposed framework.

On his part, the Chief Executive of the FWSC, Dr George Smith Graham, also assured SOE boards that their mandate would not be taken away under the proposed IPEC framework.

He said boards would continue to assess their organisation’s business models and operating environments and submit evidence-based remuneration proposals under the new system.

Dr Smith Graham explained that IPEC would not impose a uniform salary structure on all SOEs, noting that remuneration would take into account factors such as the size and complexity of an organisation, profitability, productivity, market conditions and capacity to pay.

The stakeholder engagement forms part of consultations ahead of the proposed IPEC Bill, which the Government is expected to lay before Parliament in October 2026.

The engagement was held under the theme, “Towards an Independent, Equitable and Sustainable Compensation System: Stakeholders’ Perspectives on Ghana’s Public Sector Pay Reforms.”

Priscilla Osei-Wusu Nimako, ISD