Public and Civil Service workers in Ghana must begin to ask themselves a straightforward but painful question: Why must H.E. John Dramani Mahama increase the base salary by only 9% and then turn around to impose a 9.86% increase in electricity tariffs and a 15.92% increase in water tariffs effective January 1, 2026?

Mr President, in all humility and objectivity, who gives workers 9% salary increase and turns around to tax them 25.78%? Who does that, Mr President?

What kind of economic logic is this? How do you give with the right hand and take back twice with the left?

A 9% salary adjustment is already below expectations, considering the rising cost of living, unstable food prices, and the general economic hardship confronting workers. But before workers can even breathe, the same government that claims to be showing “goodwill” turns around to place heavier burdens on the very people it pretends to support.

Oh, President Mahama, this tariff increase is an "ADANKU DAADA ADOE", a total betrayal of trust and a clever way to steal from the poor.

So, in real terms, the average Ghanaian worker will be poorer in 2026 than in 2025. Your salary increases slightly, but your cost of living rises higher. This is not economic management; it cannot be social protection either. This is policy betrayal. Upfront thievery to further impoverish the poor Ghanaian worker.

And now we look to the Trade Union Congress (TUC). Will they rise to the occasion? Will they protect the Ghanaian worker? Or they sit quietly until the burden becomes unbearable? When the country's labour unions appear to be compromised or are seen to be in bed with the government, the effect is a peanut salary increase and heavy tariffs as we are witnessing now.

Because the truth is this: Workers are not angry enough. If they were, they would be demanding explanations today not later. They would be challenging a government that imposes hardship while pretending to offer relief. They would be asking why workers are being punished for the government’s own fiscal indiscipline and mismanagement.

Mr President, please, electricity and water are not luxuries. They are necessities for every household, every worker, every institution. Increasing these tariffs at a time when salaries remain stagnant is not only inconsiderate but also economically oppressive.

So yes, we are watching the TUC. We are watching with our Eagle Eye to see whether they stand with Ghanaian workers or remain silent while the Mahama administration squeezes the life out of the labour force.

Mr President, as an appeal, kindly make a top-up of the workers' base pay from 9% to 28% or reverse your 25.78% tariff.