The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has expressed his help for amending Article 71 of the Structure to abolish ex-gratia funds.
Talking at a public discussion board in Kumasi, Mr Bagbin stated the system has develop into pointless.
He stated the system, which was meant to stop corruption amongst public servants and political officeholders, is not serving its objective.
“The idea was to guarantee them, due to the significance of the place they occupy, and the selections they take in your behalf, the idea was to guarantee them, don’t take into consideration your self, take into consideration the folks you characterize as a result of, after your workplace, we’ll deal with you. So, it was to help us in containing corruption.
“Sadly, in follow, it has not served its objective. It has not been in a position to help us to curb or include corruption. And so once I made an try to contest as a presidential candidate, I introduced that if elected as president, I used to be going to make sure that that article was amended from the structure. So, I agree completely with anyone who involves say that we should always dispose of Article 71 of the Structure. It hasn’t served its objective. There’s no use sustaining it,” the Speaker stated.
Mr Bagbin additionally stated the idea will not be for members of parliament.
“The ex-gratia will not be for members of parliament and it’s not even ex-gratia, it’s gratuity,” he defined.
“There’s a distinction between ex-gratia and gratuity, and it’s not for members of parliament alone. It cuts by way of a class of public servants and political officeholders, together with the auditor common, the chairpersons of all of the constitutional commissions, ministers of state, the presidency, the judiciary, and all others. It’s not simply members of parliament.”
In September 2023, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo shaped a five-member committee to find out the emoluments and privileges of Article 71 officeholders.
The committee was additionally tasked with contemplating the salaries and allowances of political officeholders or every other workplaces the committee deemed match per the structure.
Talking on the inauguration of the committee, President Akufo-Addo stated, “I need to point out that in latest instances, [there’s been] a whole lot of public discourse surrounding the remuneration of public officers, besides the first of these of Article 71 workplace holders, and whether or not or not, however the constitutional imperatives have been deserving of what’s being paid to us.”
“In view of the challenges at the moment confronting our nationwide financial system. It would nicely be that your work must also deal with these issues and make suggestions on how they need to be addressed,” President Akufo-Addo added.