John Kwakye
The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) is calling on government to immediately amend the Article 71 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
As enshrine in the constitution, Article 71 (1) and (2) of the 1992 Constitution determines the salaries and allowances of the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary paid from the Consolidated Fund.
The payment is to be determined by the President, on the recommendations of a committee of not more than five persons appointed by him and acting upon the advice of the Council of State.
In a tweet, the Director of Research at the IEA, Dr John Kwakye called for its amendment, saying that any government that is not committed to this call for a review is not interested in fiscal discipline.
He said “Article 71 needs immediate review to trim the bloated salaries, allowances and other benefits of the stated office holders. Any Gov’t that is not committed to the review isn’t interested in fiscal discipline.”
This post follows former President John Dramani Mahama claim that the government has only paid him GH¢230,000 for salary arrears and denies receiving GH¢14 million as ex gratia.
“The only payment that was made to me by government, Accountant General, was my salary arrears of GHC230,000 in 2013. I will show it [bank statement] to you first, and later if you want we can call a group of you journalists. Of course, I don’t want to publish my bank statement but I can put it before you and you can look through all the payments and see if there is a GHC14 million payment. I didn’t receive any such payment,” Mr. Mahama told TV3, adding that he pays for his own utilities, accommodation fuel, medical care, plane tickets and domestic staff.
“I receive only my monthly pension like President Kufuor, and President Rawlings was receiving [it] before he died. That is all I get.
“I pay the electricity bill for my house and my office, I pay the water bill for my house and my office. I live in my own accommodation so the State does not pay me anything for accommodation.
The 2020 flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) rubbished claim by Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party Kwame Baffoe alias Abronye DC as “absolute lies”.
“That’s an absolute lie. He says in 2013 14 million [cedis] was paid into my ADB account. I have my 2013 bank statement I will let you look through it and see if there is any GHC14 million payment.
“They haven’t given me an office, I rent an office in East Cantonments, I pay the rent myself, I pay my own fuel, the State doesn’t give me fuel, I pay my own domestic staff, I pay my own medical bills, I pay my own air tickets when I travel…”.
However, at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday September 14, 2022, the Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Richard Ahiagbah has said the posture of Mr Mahama regarding his entitlements, threatens the peace and democracy of the country.
Mr Ahiagbah said “the conduct of former President Mahama threaten our democracy, peace and security. So, the question is, what does former President Mahama wants to achieve with these needless falsehoods? Could it be so that he can pretend to champion the clamour for the repeal of Article 71? Evidence of this rather unholy politics of former President Mahama abound.
“Former President Mahama’s denial that he is actively accessing his emolument benefits simply exploits the sympathies of unsuspecting Ghanaians.
There is no record anywhere that former President Mahama has been renounced or that the government has denied former President Mahama his emolument or entitlement. These bizarre and downright false claims by the former President speak to a grand electoral strategy driven by desperation and deception.”
By Vincent Kubi