An anti-corruption campaigner, Vitus Azeem, has rejected the view that low remuneration is the primary cause of corruption in Ghana, arguing that greed and societal attitudes toward wealth play a far greater role in fueling the problem.

His comments come after former President John Agyekum Kufuor called for a major overhaul of public sector remuneration in Ghana, arguing that low wages for government officials significantly contribute to corruption.

Speaking in an interview on JoyNews' AM Show, Mr Kufuor said the current salary structure for civil servants and political office holders is unrealistic and creates conditions where corruption can become a coping mechanism rather than an isolated act of misconduct.

However, the anti-corruption campaigner, speaking on Joy FM’s Midday news on Tuesday, maintained that remuneration is only one of several factors driving corrupt practices.

“If corruption becomes a sign in society, no matter how much you pay a person, that person may still engage in corruption,” he noted.

Mr Azeem pointed to the display of excessive wealth by some individuals as evidence that corruption is often driven by greed rather than financial hardship.

“You see people having three, four, five cars. You enter a house, and there are three or four cars parked, and after they have left for work, there are still empty cars sitting in the house. You also see people owning houses in more than one or two regional capitals and even in their villages.”

According to the advocate, such patterns show that corruption is not necessarily the result of poverty or inadequate salaries.

“It is not poverty or low salaries that actually make people corrupt. It is greed and our respect for people who live in a certain economic class,” he explained.

He also questioned the argument that higher pay alone would curb corruption, pointing to senior public officials who already earn relatively higher salaries.

“When you look at salaries, the Chief Director in the civil service is probably the highest-paid person and is entitled to certain allowances. Yet are you saying chief directors are not corrupt? They are involved in awarding contracts and are in positions where they can access more money than the ordinary person in the office.”

The advocate added that if low pay were the main cause of corruption, lower-income workers would be the most corrupt.

“If remuneration were the basis, those in the lower income brackets should be the most corrupt. But that is not the situation from our observation,” the advocate stated.