CDD-Ghana Fellow and Ecobank Board Member Hene Aku Kwapong says Ghana could take a major step toward rebuilding national trust and strengthening public accountability by publishing all government roles along with their salaries and benefits.
Such a move, he says, is not just another administrative reform; it is a structural reset that can change how citizens relate to the state.
By imitating this practice already implemented in countries such as the United States, Finland, Switzerland, Denmark, the UK, and others, Ghana is on the path of creating what he describes as a “high-trust society.”
The CDD-Ghana fellow believes the benefits of such a publication are enormous. He outlines six important benefits Ghana could unlock if the government opens up its pay architecture to the public.
1. It clears the confusion and rumours surrounding public-sector pay
In societies where trust is low, people often assume the worst. Rumours about secret allowances, hidden perks, and mysterious grades flourish because no one knows the truth. Hene Aku Kwapong explains that a public salary database shuts down this “rumour economy” instantly.
When citizens can check any role and immediately see what it pays, the tension around government jobs cools. Public service becomes about real responsibilities, not imagined privileges.
“When citizens can search for any role, in any ministry, and instantly see what it pays, the political temperature around public employment cools. Public service becomes less about imagined privilege and more about clearly defined obligations and compensation,” he explained.
2. It creates a clear benchmark for fairness
For the CDD-Ghana Fellow, fairness matters deeply to citizens. When pay structures are hidden, every complaint about unfair treatment sounds believable because no one can verify anything. By making salaries visible, fairness becomes measurable. Ghanaians can compare similar roles across ministries and immediately spot inconsistencies.
And once these gaps become visible, they become politically difficult to defend. Transparency naturally pushes the system toward equal treatment and internal consistency.
He says, “Economists have long observed that perceptions of fairness matter as much as absolute incomes. When the compensation structure is opaque, every allegation of unfairness resonates. When it is transparent, fairness becomes measurable.”
3. It weakens the incentives for patronage and shady internal practices
He further describes opacity as “the oxygen of patronage.” When pay structures are hidden, it is easier for managers to create informal allowances, invent special grades, or push through questionable promotions.
He adds that, worst of all, ghost names can slip onto payrolls unnoticed. A public database acts like turning on a bright light, where practices that once thrived quietly in the dark suddenly stand out. Transparency limits the room for favouritism and protects the integrity of public service.
4. It allows citizens to track the size and pattern of the public payroll
According to the CDD-Ghana Fellow, Ghana’s wage bill is one of the largest relative to revenue in Africa, yet ordinary people rarely know how it grows or where new hiring is concentrated. A public portal would give journalists, researchers, and civil society the ability to monitor the payroll in real time.
He maintains that interested parties can check whether hiring patterns match fiscal promises and whether wage bills are expanding beyond sustainable levels. In his view, if the government often asks citizens to trust its discipline, transparency gives people the ability to verify it.
5. It helps restore the moral foundation of taxation
Paying taxes is essentially an act of trust, he says. Citizens comply because they believe their money is being used responsibly. But scandals such as the discovery of tens of thousands of ghost names break that trust.
Publishing the full salary structure shows clearly how public money is used and what the state prioritizes. It assures taxpayers that their contributions are funding real roles, not phantom workers or hidden perks.
6. It signals a clear break from the culture of secrecy
For decades, he says, governments in low-trust environments have treated information like private property. Hene Aku Kwapong argues that a public-sector career portal sends the opposite message that information belongs to the citizenry.
It becomes the first visible sign that the state is choosing transparency over secrecy. Because the government already has the data and needs no external approval, publishing it becomes a powerful symbol of political will and accountability.
The Bottomline
He stresses that this reform is far more than a tidy administrative gesture. It is a foundational act that reduces suspicion, limits opportunities for abuse, strengthens fairness, and gives citizens the tools to hold their government to account.
Above all, he says, it begins the long process of rebuilding the trust that Ghana’s political economy urgently needs. For him, he does not see any reason why the government cannot implement this transparency mechanism, except that it has something to be afraid of.
