Prominent legal scholar and social commentator Kwaku Azar has raised fresh concerns over fiscal justice and government priorities, revealing a substantial increase in salaries for heads and members of Independent Governance Bodies (IGBs) between 2020 and 2024.
In a post published on Facebook on May 19, 2025, Kwaku Azar, also known as GOGO (Governance Observer and Good Order advocate), shared excerpts from a document approving the emoluments of Article 71 officeholders, highlighting what he described as "quietly awarded backdated raises" for key officials - even as ordinary Ghanaians grappled with economic hardship, debt restructuring, and emergency levies.
According to the document, the monthly salary for positions such as the Auditor-General and other IGB heads rose from ₵34,397 in 2020 to ₵62,202.53 by December 2024 - representing an overall increase of approximately 81%.
The yearly breakdown is as follows: 2020: ₵34,397.00 2021: ₵35,772.88 (4.0% increase) 2022: ₵38,276.98 (7.0% increase) 2023: ₵49,760.08 (30.0% increase) 2024 (Jan-June): ₵61,204.89 (23.0% increase) 2024 (July-Dec): ₵62,202.53 (1.6% increase) Azar juxtaposed this with macroeconomic indicators, pointing out that the Ghana cedi depreciated by an estimated 50-60% over the same period, while real wage growth for most Ghanaians was stagnant or negative. "While citizens and pensioners were forced to 'share the burden' and 'tighten belts,' IGBs and surely other Article 71 beneficiaries were quietly awarded backdated raises," Azar wrote. "They get salary arrears.
