A research fellow at Institute for Liberty & Policy Innovation – ILAPI, Haruna Gado Yakubu has urged Government to adopt the recommendations on emoluments for article 71 office holders in the Constitution Review Committee Report, which will cure the brouhaha surrounding the current provisions in the Constitution.
He says, even though the Commission made some salient recommendations in the report, as usual, has been kept on the shelves.
Below is the full statement:
Institute for Liberty & Policy Innovation – ILAPI
Assessing the recommendations of FIADJOE commission on the Article 71 Emoluments
In order to cure my curiosity on the current demand made by the FORUM FOR FORMER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT, which is a clear confusion of the current state of emoluments scheme for officers, as stated in article 71, I went through the EMERITUS PROFESSOR ALBERT KODZO FIADJOE constitutional review commission report, to see the recommendations made to cure the current ‘scratch my back-and-I will scratch your back’ system of emoluments determination for parliamentarians by the executive, and for the executive by parliament.
The FIADJOE commission made succinct recommendations, but as people who don’t care about commission and committee reports, we kept the report on the shelf to gather dust.
Below are the recommendations;
”RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE ON THE EMOLUMENTS OF ARTICLE 71 OFFICE HOLDERS
The Commission recommends the establishment of an Independent Emoluments Commission (IEC) as an independent constitutional body to determine the emoluments of all public officers
INDEPENDENT EMOLUMENTS COMMISSION
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE INDEPENDENT EMOLUMENTS COMMISSION
189A. (1) There shall be established by an Act of Parliament, an Independent Emoluments Commission.
(2) The Independent Emoluments Commission shall be composed of – (a) a Chairman, (b) one Deputy Chairman, and (c) three other persons, at least one of whom is a woman.
(3) A person shall not be appointed as a member unless the person has at least 15 years working experience in: (a) human resource management; (b) accounting; (c) wage and salary administration; or (d) industrial or labour law.
(4)The members of the Commission shall be full time members and shall be appointed by the President in consultation with the Council of State and with prior approval of Parliament.
FUNCTIONS OF THE COMMISSION
189B. (1) The functions of the Commission shall be to – (a) determine and review the emoluments attached to all public offices; (b)monitor the salaries, allowances and other benefits paid to public officers; (c) consolidate, as far as practicable, the emoluments of public officers; and (d)perform such other functions as Parliament may by an Act of Parliament determine.
(2) In the performance of its functions, the Commission shall have regard to – (a) the availability of public funds for the payment of the emoluments and the sustainability of the payments; (b)the productivity and performance of the public officers; (c) the need to attract and retain skilled and qualified persons in the public offices; (d)the status or level of the public officers; and (e) transparency and fairness.
TENURE OF MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION
189C. The members of the Commission shall each hold office for a term of five years, renewable for a further term of five years only.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE OF MEMBERS
189D. Except as provided in article 189C, the Chairman shall have the same conditions of service as a Justice of the Supreme Court; the deputy chairman shall have the same conditions of service as a Justice of the Court of Appeal and the other members shall have the same conditions of service as a Justice of the High Court.
REMOVAL FROM OFFICE
189E. The provisions in article 146 on the removal of a Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature shall apply to the members of the Commission.
APPOINTMENT OF STAFF OF THE COMMISSION
189F. The officers and other employees of the Commission shall be appointed by the Commission acting in consultation with the Public Services Commission.”
I don’t know what is delaying us from implementing these beautiful recommendations, perhaps, our inbuilt GREED.
PS: I am not a lawyer nor student of the law at ‘SACRED’ Ghana School Law, however, I am a student of Law on the internet, as suggested by former CJ to those who want to know something about law.
Haruna Gado Yakubu
Research Fellow.
Institute for Liberty & Policy Innovation
Tema
