The Indispensability Of Ex-Gratia In Ghanaian Politics

Recently, there has been a controversy over the abolishment of ex-gratia to the executive arms of the government and the parliamentarians in the Republic of Ghana, which had raised some eyebrows because some of the advocates of its abolishment were unwilling to return theirs when asked by the public to do so. It had been called forth when one prominent businessman and a member of the royal family in the Volta Region had earlier on returned his indicating he does not consider it appropriate to withhold it. The present writer thinks that the payment of ex-gratia is necessary for the continued development of the country's political institutions and, therefore, it should not be abolished but rather changes must be made so that it would conform to the manner other developed countries are issuing theirs to their illustrious politicians. What ex-gratia needs, is a review so that we do not earn up wasting the resources of the country on a few greedy individuals, which could lead to the diminishment of funds in the public purse in the running of the affairs in the country.

EX-GRATIA: WHAT IS IT?
Ex gratia comes from a Latin word that means "by favor" and is most often applied in a legal context. When something has been accomplished as ex gratia, it means the particular thing has been performed in a voluntary way, that is, out of kindness or grace. In law , an ex gratia payment is a payment made without the giver recognizing any liability or legal obligation. This is an interpretation given by most encyclopedias such as the Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia. In general terms, "compensation payments are often made ex gratia if a nation's government is prepared to compensate victims of an event such as an accident or similar but not to admit liability to pay compensation or for causing the event.” Another famous dictionary makes a similar definition. An ex gratia payment is warranted to an individual by an organization, government, or insurer for damages or claims, but it does not require the admittance of liability by the party making the payment. Every ex gratia payment is regarded as voluntary since the party performing the payment is not obligated to compensate the individual. That is the reason why the Latin word "by favor" is utilized for ex gratia.

Three things are salient as we discuss this legal terminology: (1) An ex gratia payment is made to an individual by a government but it does not require the admittance of liability by the party making the payment. (2) An ex gratia payment is voluntary because the party making the payment is not obligated to compensate the person. (3) Ex gratia payments in some countries are typically subject to state income taxes.

THE GOAL AND THE IMPORTANCE OF EX-GRATIA

Most ex gratia payments are paid because the recipient has experienced a loss; however, such a transaction is not considered an admission of liability. Ex gratia payment is meant to be a gesture of goodwill . The payment is made following a specific loss or damage to property; an ex gratia payment does not carry with it any admission of liability. A company providing a one-time credit to its customers would not be considered to be making an ex gratia payment because the payment is not related to a specific loss. However, a company that provides credit after a service disruption would consider making an ex gratia payment.

A government may employ the payment of ex gratia as part of a longer-term strategy to maintain good relations with politicians and respectable individuals who have sacrificed their time to plan and think about the country through deliberations and law promulgations in parliament. As the individual receives payment, he will be willing to sacrifice more of his time again to deal with government matters when he is called upon again to assist. In the business sector, for example, a large retailer that is forced to reduce staff may provide a severance payment that is larger than the legal requirement. The retailer may determine that this gesture of goodwill will reduce the negative publicity generated by the layoffs . Similarly, British Airways often gives an ex gratia payment card to past customers who may have been inconvenienced to maintain good customer relations. Our present focus is on the Ghana government and the manner she issues ex-gratia to individual parliamentarians who continue to sit in parliament every four years onwards, and the Presidents who though have not declared their intentions of going on pension are usually paid huge sums of ex-gratia while they continue to campaign for the same office.

GHANA’S EXPERIENCE
In Ghana, several authors have discussed what Article 71 in Ghana 1992 Constitution stipulates as comprising those who take ex-gratia, which includes some members of the Judicature, the executive, and the legislature (parliamentarians). There are also other bodies such as the National Media Commission, Lands Commission, Public Services Commission, National Council for Higher Education, The Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice, The Auditor General, Chairman and Deputy of the Electoral Commission, Council of States, The National Commission of Civic Education, etc. (cf. Ghanaweb.com article Ex-gratia: Who are the Article 71 Holders? March 13, 2033). These present no problem to many Ghanaians, but let us analyze what some three countries in the Nothern hemisphere use as a criterion for giving the ex-gratia to their parliamentarians and executive members.

OTHER DEVELOPED COUNTRIES EX-GRATIA FOR FORMER PRESIDENTS/PRIME MINISTERS

A former President who has not declared his intention of going to pension/opting out for not running again to become a president does not qualify for ex-gratia for Presidents. Once this honorable President has not relinquished his desire to run for President, he depends on his savings, social security, or another form of pension he has in society to survive. He can even open another business and live on. What is regarded as ex-gratia for these respectable men are for only those who have publicly declared their overall intentions of not running again for the President Position in their countries after having successfully won and worked one term and lost, or two terms, and have no bid to run again. So far as I know (and I stand to be corrected), a President does not enjoy all these sums of money with first-class privileges and still comes back again and gets involved in politics with the intention of candidating for the same office.

EX-GRATIA FOR PARLIAMENTARIANS
We suggest a future review of the Ghana 1992 Constitution/amendment to consider other factors they commonly employ in other civilized nations such as Sweden and its neighboring countries Denmark, Norway, and Finland.

To qualify for ex-gratia a parliamentarian should have been in parliament for two consecutive terms/two terms, that is, eight years, and is no longer going to be in parliament because he has lost an election. This honorable member of parliament has been either unlucky to continue sitting or has decided to stop candidating for parliament.

One term in parliament (4 years) does not qualify a member of parliament to receive ex-gratia. A member either contacts his former employer or looks for another job or training to upgrade the earlier profession he has. Here, the honorable member of parliament can apply for unemployment benefits which are always given if one has been an active member and has paid his premium.

So long as an individual continues to sit in parliament, he must not be given ex-gratia. This is for only those who have been in parliament for two terms and do not want to continue to enjoy their monthly pay and allowances because they lost the bid to be elected again to sit in parliament.

OUR SUGGESTIONS CONCERNING THE 275 PARLIAMENTARIANS AND EX-GRATIA

The most important duty of the member of parliament is to help deliberate and debate to pass laws in this common chamber and to represent their constituencies on other essential chores that we do not want to enumerate here. We want to point out that a future reduction of the number from 275 to 200 will be ideal for the country because of the enormous cost the country bears on them. The amendment of the constitution should not only be on other matters but also this consideration to enable the authorities in the country to become judicious concerning the number of these honorable gentlemen in the common chamber.

RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUDING REMARKS
Evidence shows that politics has become an easy way of getting rich in the country in an improper way; moreover, politicians are always protecting one another when a huge sum of money is involved in corruption cases. One way of putting this in check is to reduce the number of those honorable members who sit in parliament to promulgate laws and represent the different constituencies. There should also be an attempt to rationalize the money paid to some politicians as ex-gratia, especially when they continue to sit every four years as parliamentarians, a council of state members, commissions, etc., and take their monthly remunerations and allowances. To qualify for an ex-gratia a president must declare in a public manner that he does not have the intention of candidating for the presidency in the country.