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<\/a>Currently, they are being paid on account rather than knowing exactly how much they should receive as per the provisions of Article 71 of the Constitution.<\/p>\n
This situation exists because the President is yet to set up a committee to review the conditions of service for Article 71 office holders as stipulated in the Constitution.<\/p>\n
The Article says their expenditure charge on the consolidated fund shall be determined by the President on the recommendation of a committee of not more than five persons appointed by the President acting on advice of the Council of State.<\/p>\n
Sharing his thoughts on the matter, a private legal practitioner, Lawyer Yaw Oppong in an interview on Eyewitness News indicated that the President must be given the benefit of the doubt because it is unclear whether the Council of State advised the President yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will give the President the benefit of the doubt since that duty was not imposed on him alone but together with the Council of State,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n
He mentioned that per the nation\u2019s constitution, in the term of every President, a committee must be set up to review the salaries and emoluments of Article 71 holders \u201cespecially because a Member of Parliament for this particular Parliament may not become a Member of Parliament for the next Parliament\u2026so it becomes necessary that for each term of Parliament and each term of the President, that committee would have to be set up.\u201d<\/p>\n Lawyer Oppong was quick to clarify that the committee is not mandated to always increase the salaries and allowances of Article 71 holders.<\/p>\n \u201cA review may not necessarily mean that you reduce it or increase it. They can even maintain it in view of the circumstances of the economy at a particular point in time,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n He however recommended that whatever the last Parliamentarians were receiving, the current MPs Parliamentarians and all Article 71 holders should continue to receive it \u201cwhether or not in their view it\u2019s not enough because I don\u2019t think that any part of the economy is getting enough of the cake.\u201d<\/p>\n Lawyer Oppong added that MPs are better placed to \u201ccry their own cry\u2026because they have all powers in law to compel the Executive to act in their benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/a>
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