The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has reaffirmed his view that ex-gratia payments to Article 71 officeholders no longer fulfill their intended purpose.
He noted that the original goal of ex-gratia payments for certain public servants and political officeholders was to combat corruption, a goal that is no longer being achieved in the current climate.
Speaking at a public forum in Kumasi to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Fourth Republican Parliament, Alban Bagbin pointed out that these payments were initially meant to ensure that public servants and political officeholders would have their needs met after leaving office, encouraging them to serve the public interest rather than their own.
However, he acknowledged that in reality, this objective has not been realized, and the payments have not effectively reduced corruption.
The Speaker voiced his support for amending Article 71 of the Constitution to eliminate ex-gratia payments, which he believes have become redundant.
“The issue of ex gratia is a very thorny issue. The founders envisaged a situation where they wanted some particular category of public servants, including political officeholders. The ex gratia is not for members of Parliament and it’s not even ex gratia, it’s gratuity.
There’s a difference between ex gratia and gratuity and it’s not for members of parliament alone. It cuts through a category of public servants and political officeholders, including auditor general, including the chairpersons of all the constitutional commissions, including ministers of state, the presidency, judiciary, and all others, it’s not just members of parliament.”
“But the concept was to assure them, because of the importance of the position they occupy, and the decisions they take on your behalf, the concept was to assure them, don’t think about yourself, think about the people you represent because, after your office, we will take care of you. So it was to assist us to contain corruption. And I’m happy that a number of industrial chiefs from this region were members of the consultative assembly.”
“Unfortunately, in practice, it has not served its purpose. It has not been able to assist us to curb or contain corruption. And so when I made an attempt to contest as a presidential candidate, I did announce that if elected as president, I was going to ensure that that article is amended from the constitution. So I agree totally with anybody who comes to say that we should do away with Article 71 of the Constitution. It hasn’t served its purpose, there’s no use maintaining it.”