Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Dr. James Klutse Avedzi, has indicated that low wages at the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) are fostering corruption among its employees.

Dr. Avedzi expressed concern over the prevalence of low salaries among PPA staff, which he believes increases their vulnerability to bribery and corruption.

To illustrate, he cited a specific case in which a lawyer, initially contracted by the Authority for GH¢4,000, had their salary halved upon transitioning to permanent staff status.

"What we have realized as the reason why the Procurement Authority is doing that is that the Head or the people there; most of them -(1); the salaries are nothing to write home about. They take home very meager salaries," he disclosed in a yet-to-be-aired interview on TV3 on Saturday, May 4, 2024.

He added, "There was an issue in the 2022 report, which we looked at; where a lawyer was employed or recruited as a legal person for the Authority. And this lawyer was being paid GH¢4,000 as his or her salary. Now, that was on contract, but when this lawyer was regularized, [went] through the Public Service Commission, and eventually given an appointment letter, the salary dropped to GH¢2,000."

Dr. Avedzi proposed that paying public employees more would better prepare them to fight corruption.