Prez Urged To Examine Article 71 Salaries

Pressure group Occupy Ghana has urged President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to take a close look at some provisions in Article 71 of the constitution which deal with the benefits and emoluments of the head of state and his vice, ministers, judges and members of parliament among others.

“We therefore urge the new President to holistically examine the relevant provisions and propose to the people of Ghana a solution that best allays the usual anxieties and also, does the needful by outgoing servants of our dear Republic”, the group stated in a release issued yesterday.

Further, Occupy Ghana said they “are disturbed by the perennial nature of the issue of Article 71 emoluments and benefits. The usual angst and concern expressed by the good people of Ghana every time the issue comes up is indicative of a certain deficiency or deliberate error in the interpretation and application of the Constitutional arrangement by successive Parliaments and Presidents”.

“These need to be addressed comprehensively and conclusively. In agreeing to the Article 71 arrangements, the people of Ghana assumed that reasonable Parliaments and Presidents would act primarily in the best interest of the citizenry as fiduciaries”, the statement added.

It continued: “It is sad that this fiduciary duty is ignored or breached at every transition in a manner that is at best out of touch with the aspirations of the people or, at its worst, in contemptuous disregard of the people”.

Further, the group made known its disquiet about claims from the office of the former President that there was a concluded agreement between itself and the then-incoming government.

“That would have been an illegal agreement since an incoming government would have had no power to bind the nation to any agreement. Thus, any purported ‘pre-inauguration agreement’ would have required the express ratification of the new government when finally inaugurated”, Occupy Ghana asserted.

“We were therefore waiting to see whether the new government would ratify the alleged agreement or reject the request, as the case may be. We have also seen a copy of what purports to be a letter from President John Mahama, withdrawing the request, claim or demand”, it said.

Additionally, the group opined that the former President John Mahama committed an illegality for his continued stay in a state house.

“We were also concerned that the continued occupation of Number 3 Prestige Link by President John Mahama flew directly in the face of section 10 of the Presidential (Transition) Act”, the group said

“We note that this Act was specifically enacted by Parliament and signed into law by President John Mahama, to among others, compel retiring Presidents and Vice-Presidents to vacate all official premises BEFORE power changes hands. It is instructive to note that while a 2016 amendment of the Act gave other government appointees up to three (3) months to vacate official premises both a President and Vice-President have no such ‘grace period,” it explained.